'Absorb the Grace!' It was a terrible idea, and Xinzi knew that well. Though Heaven cherished the divines above all others, there were rules that even they couldn't transgress.
Unlike gimmicks such as the Wisp of Heaven's Breath that merely fell from tribulation lightning, Heaven's Grace was a part of Heaven itself—meaning that unlike tribulation lightning and other celestial phenomena, it was a finite, quantifiable force. Xinzi consuming the grace that had been imparted onto Xiao Hu would be like attempting to eat one of Heaven's fingers. The offense made the practice of infernalism look like tomfoolery.
Never in his right mind would the monk attempt to consume Heaven's Grace. Alas, in his right mind, Xinzi was not. The chants of 10,000 demons boomed within his demon hearts, his mind and his Evil Qi, forcing him to absorb the grace and pass this line of no return. With Chun Xu as the vector, Tusha glanced at the pit of darkness and all the fiendish faces that had formed around Xinzi, and though she no longer possessed a demon heart or shell, the infernal nun instantly realized that this pit…led straight to Hell. This meant that, at the very least, a Devil was playing tricks here!
'Immortal cultivation will bind you to Heaven, demonism to Hell, and Lianism to the Pure Lands. The Gods, Devils and Saints control all the forces within the Four Realms of Existence. Avoiding the authority of Gods and Saints in the Mortal Realm isn't difficult. But Devils are another ballgame altogether. As long as your Evil Qi stems from a source that they dominate, they can use it as a bridge to connect to and mess with your existence. That, I know. But there are billions of demonic cultivators scattered throughout the Mortal Realm alone, and more throughout the Infernal Paradise. Why would a Devil take note of Xinzi, who should be nothing but a grain of sand in any of their Affiliation?' Tusha asked herself, and rightfully so. Unless Hell itself played tricks, a Devil noticing Xinzi's existence didn't make any sense.
Blood-red mist oozed from Chun Xu's inert body, and the infernal nun appeared at Xinzi's back. Her hands flashed in incantation gestures, conjuring glowing red runes that slammed into Xinzi's body. A red halo surrounded the monk, battling with the infernal chants to help him regain control of his body. Loud banging sounds rocked the tower's walls, tendrils of darkness flew out of the fiendish shape, slamming into Tusha's halo and breaking it down instantly.
The nun flew back and crashed against a wall. Cracks spread throughout, and she spurted blood.
"Ridiculous. Even at your best, you were but an insignificant demon noble, an emissary dispatched by us to awaken and assist the Demon Monarch. Not only have you failed in your task, but you also let go of your demonic nature to hide as a Blood Spirit. With that base and low body fit only for the rats of the mortal plane, you still have the nerve to challenge My Infernal Self? Know your place!" Thunderous, low-pitched laughter boomed from the infernal pit, making Tusha realize what she was dealing with.
"A True Devil…of the Decadent Affiliation." The current her only had a strength comparable to the peak of Divine Transformation. Although with all her methods she could deal with superior mortal experts, there was no way for her to suppress a True Devil's move—even with the world's suppression reducing its abilities.
"Don't worry. The Lords of the Infernal Paradise have not forgotten you four sisters' failures. I just didn't expect that this boy would lead me to you as well. Good! When my Infernal Ancestor holds you in his hands, I will receive additional rewards!" The True Devil said, and shifted his focus back to Xinzi. Never one to let those of superior status pin her down, Tusha tried to fight back, but the first attempt revealed that the Devil's infernal energies suppressed her entirely—not even allowing her to bark.
'Absorb the Grace!' The 10,000 demons' chants never stopped, still urging Xinzi to siphon the grace. Tendrils of darkness snaked across his body, sinking into his pores and lodging in his hearts. The tendrils didn't stop here, moving on to Xinzi's soul and slamming past the seals that concealed its true shape. Behind the seals, night spread as far as the eyes could see, lit only by the shackled spark shining at the center of Xinzi's soul.
"Oh? A son of the Hengye clan? With a Divine Spark at that. In other circumstances, I might show some restraint. But unfortunately for you boy, this is an opportunity to absorb Heaven's Grace by proxy and cultivate a peerless cauldron! Even if your…" At first, the True Devil overflowed with confidence. No matter how much prestige the monk commanded among his peers, as a mortal world resident, he could only be a branch clansman of the Hengye clan. As such, his background had no deterrence on a Lord of the Infernal Paradise. But the longer it stared at the shackled spark, the more unsettled the True Devil felt.
"Wait…bright, too bright! How can a shackled spark shine with such splendor? This isn't…" It started, but here, one lock of Xinzi's shackles opened. The brightness of his Divine Spark rose to stratospheric heights, blinding the True Devil, and burning through all the tendrils. "AAAAAAAARGH!" The True Devil's scream filled the room, awakening Chun Xu, and making Xiao Hu shiver in dread.
By now, the Swallowing Skill had started its drainage, forcing a few dots of Heaven's Grace into Xinzi's Void Spiritual Root. But here, the monk's eyes regained their light, and he stopped the Swallowing Skill immediately. "Impossible." Tusha couldn't believe her eyes, and as Chun Xu and Xiao Hu floundered in a mix of confusion and terror, Xinzi stood up.
"Close your eyes." Xinzi ordered, but though the words came from the same voice that they'd known for years, it carried an oppressive majesty that forced both Chun Xu and Xiao Hu to obey without delay. Even Tusha felt shaken by the orders, and aware that the monk planned to unleash his true form, the nun obeyed as well.
From Xinzi's back, tendrils of jet-black energy flew out, coalescing into a tall, ink-colored figure, whose only discernible features were the pair of slanted, dazzling-white eyes and the chained spark at the center of its stomach. But unlike what Tusha previously faced, one lock on the figure's chains seemed broken, or rather, temporarily lifted by foreign command. As soon as the figure—Xinzi's true form—appeared, searing light filled the room and burned through the pit of darkness and fiendish faces that had taken shape.
"What were you saying already? Even at your best, you are an insignificant True Devil, a Lord in the eyes of most, but an insect in mine. Messing with the body is one thing, but how dare you attempt to pervert the soul of My Divine Self? It's not a good look, and if there's one thing that I've learned from my Divine Ancestor, it's to not reward insolence." Xinzi's lips parted, revealing a world of light in sharp contrast with his ink-like form.
"You are of the second…damn! Damn!" The True Devil raged against its own ignorance. But in retrospect, how could it imagine that its mortal prey would turn out to be a…
Xinzi wouldn't give it the opportunity to think further. With his spark as the trigger, an explosion of Divine light spread out, burning the fiendish faces and the pit of darkness alongside it.
"If we were in Hell…damn you! Damn you!"
"But we are not." Xinzi cut the True Devil, and his mortal body stretched its right hand out, activating the Swallowing Skill and aiming it…at the devil's shrinking darkness. Dazed and weakened to near impotence by the searing light, it couldn't prevent its Evil Qi from getting sucked into Xinzi's palm. The monk wouldn't refine it directly, instead shaping the qi into a ball of dark-purple force, and hiding it in his storage ring—the pit vanished subsequently, leaving Tusha, Chun Xu and Xiao Hu to quiver with their eyes still shut tight.
…
Beyond the veil that split the Realms, deep in a castle of the Infernal Paradise, one mountainous figure clutched at its chest. With dark-red skin, three pairs of curved horns, and black tendrils protruding from its chin, the figure would have left most humans terror-struck. But here in Hell, this was an appearance that lured in demonesses like bees to dripping honey.
"Bastard! Besides bullying your inferiors by relying on your birthrights, what can you do? One day, I will open a gate to the Great Desolation world and consume you personally!" The True Devil raged to no end. In the Celestial Paradise, its status would be comparable to a True God's. Yet, after eons of cultivation and a hard-earned Devil Crown, it still had to receive such an insult from a highborn brat. Of course, the True Devil wouldn't consider that in the eyes of the Infernal Paradise's countless denizens, it too was just the product of classism.
"You will do no such thing." Massive veils of Evil Qi surrounded the True Devil's castle as, alerted by the commotion, other Devils of various affiliations assembled—including some whose cultivation levels made the aggrieved True Devil despair.
"Brain-dead invertebrate, are you trying to trigger a Realm War? It has only been 10,000 years since you went down The Pit and received your Devil Crown, but you're already targeting the second generation of the Hengye clan? If Yongye learns that you almost turned its boy into a puppet, do you think that it will let it go on account of your ignorance? This is why I despise you opportunistic wretches. Besides coasting on your family name, and using your Infernal Ancestor's blessings to steal a Devil Crown, what can you do?" A wrathful voice dropped from the infernal sky, making the True Devil despair.
"Ancestor I…" It wouldn't be given an opportunity to plead its case.. A storm of dark-purple flames rained from the veils, reducing the True Devil, his castle and retainers into ashes.