Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 564
Soon, as the number of the green particles grew larger and larger, most of Jin Xinyue's demonized cells had been transformed into regular cells.
Five minutes later, the drop of blood collected from a saintess of the demons was no different from the blood of a human being.
What—what the heck?
Li Yao was dumbfounded. He vaguely felt that he was onto something groundbreaking.
When he looked at Jin Xinyue again, she had finally calmed down after struggling in pain for quite a few hours. However, her long wings had been mostly folded back into her body. Looking from the side, she was just a random human girl!
Li Yao swallowed hard and collected another few drops of her blood for analysis.
This time, all the demonized cells inside her blood were gone; they were just like the regular cells of human beings now!
So, the weird green virus can turn a demon into a human being?
Li Yao felt a headache coming on.
The high-level demons often boasted the 'polymorphing' ability, which allowed them to hide their demonic features and pretend to be human beings.
But it was only a change of appearance. A lot of demonized cells were still inside their body.
In the Heaven's Origin Sector, it was with multiple examinations of the blood, hair, and excrement that human beings identified the spies of the demon race. It almost never failed.
But right now, a demon had turned into a human being from head to toe and from outside to inside right in front of Li Yao's eyes!
How could he not be shocked?
Li Yao was not sure if the transformation was reversible. Would she turn back into a demon after a while, or would she stay as a human being forever?
Either way, the elder of the Blade of Chaos was quite right. The secret treasure could indeed completely change the future of the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven's Origin Sector!
What if countless experts of the Blood Demon Sector snuck into the Heaven's Origin Sector after turning themselves into human beings in such a way?
Or rather, had they already done it? Did a lot of demons already go to the Heaven's Origin Sector decades ago, live as human beings, and even rise to power in the federation?
The demon race boasts the polymorphing ability. If their cells are no different from those of human beings, what is the essential difference between human beings and demons?
Who are human beings, and who are demons? What are human beings, and what are demons?
Watching the last feather on Jin Xinyue's body gradually fade away, Li Yao was deep in thought.
…
Maybe the transformation into a human being was too exhausting for her soul and physical strength, but Jin Xinyue did not wake up until three hours later.
The excruciating pain deep to her bones and the weird feeling of her back leaning the ground immediately reminded her of the bad situation she was in. After she triggered her soul power and summoned her demonic energy, she felt that her body was empty. All her strength seemed to have been sealed, and she could not access any of it.
Jin Xinyue immediately recalled the terrifying eye before she fell into coma.
She shuddered in a chill.
It was the last meaningless movement she allowed herself to make.
As a saintess who had received the harshest training in the Pantheon of Demons from a young age, Jin Xinyue did not waste a single second in useless fear or complaint. She immediately started thinking of ways to escape and reverse the situation.
Since she had not yet been killed, she still had a chance.
Jin Xinyue sat straight and observed her surroundings calmly.
It was a shabby cave with the sounds of rushing torrents outside, indicating that the cave was behind a waterfall.
Dry branches were piled up messily on the ground. More than ten holes had been dug on the wall in which some simple tools were kept.
The tools made Jin Xinyue's pupils constrict violently. She almost exclaimed loudly.
Fangs of the Purple Jade Phantom Poison Spiders!
Tails of the Purple Cloud Mystic Electric Birds!
The spine of the Desert Wild Wolves!
Jin Xinyue felt like her blood was freezing. They were the only three items that she could recognize among the dozens of tools. But they were all invaluable treasures from the ancient demon beasts more than thirty thousand years ago.
Even though her father was the monarch of the Gold Crow Kingdom and one of the twelve demon emperors, he did not have too many files regarding the ancient demon beasts, either. She had only seen similar illustrations in the ancient classics that her father treasured.
Although she did not know the specific names of the rest of the materials and scraps of ancient magical equipment, she could tell that the vintage feeling of the objects could not have been achieved without withstanding the test of time.
Any of the invaluable treasures would raise a riot in the auctions outside, but the mysterious demon is just stuffing them into the holes on the wall randomly as if they are garbage?
He is so strong, yet he was lurking in a remote mountain village and does not care for the materials of ancient demon beasts and the scraps of ancient magical equipment. Who is he exactly?
Trying to hold back her pain, Jin Xinyue took a deep breath and sorted through all the information she knew.
She was on a mission to hunt the remnants of the Blade of Chaos. The real purpose of the mission was a top secret. There should not have been a third force other than Elder Nether Spring that knew of it.
The mysterious demon was certainly not a member of the Blade of Chaos. Otherwise, he could have taken the item away long before she arrived.
He did not belong to the Blade of Chaos, Elder Nether Spring, or her father's subordinates, but he had hidden in the mountain village half a month in advance?
Was it possible that she had gotten the whole thing wrong and that the stranger had nothing to do with her mission but ran into her by accident?
Right then, the water sound out of the cave was lowered. A slender shadow entered the cave and moved toward her unhurriedly.
Jin Xinyue's heart shivered. She was unwilling to face the weird, bloody eye again, but the stranger had stopped right in front of her. She could only struggle to raise her head.
Thankfully, the left eye and the left arm of the stranger were tied up in bandages.
However, the better they were concealed, the creepier Jin Xinyue felt. She could not help but imagine how terrifying and mysterious the bloody eye behind the bandage was!
Inside the narrow cave behind the waterfall, the princess of the Gold Crow Kingdom and the saintess of the Pantheon of Demons shuddered uncontrollably.
Chapter 847: Bone Fire and Elegant Accent |
Shua!
Li Yao picked up a handful of bluish powder with his right hand. He then curled his index finger and made a weird posture before he opened his hand like a blossoming lotus. A bluish fire suddenly popped up from his palm, making the small cave look like a deep ocean and making him even more mysterious.
"Before the bone fire dies down, give me a few reasons why I shouldn't kill you," Li Yao said casually in a rigid tone.
The movement to make the fire and his tone raised surging tides in Jin Xinyue's heart.
As a princess of the Gold Crow Kingdom and a saintess of the Pantheon of Demons, Jin Xinyue had read a lot of books from a young age. The divine classics of the demon race in the Demon Beast Empire thirty thousand years ago, the notes and books of human beings, and even anecdotes from the era of the ancient Cultivators forty thousand years ago were all familiar to her.
When Li Yao made the fire with the weird technique, she already felt that the movement was both strange and familiar. When Li Yao uttered 'bone fire', the pores all over her body constricted violently, and she could not help but shudder.
Making a fire in midair was not difficult for Cultivators and demons with reasonable expertise.
But the spiritual fire or the demonic fire would release very strong waves. They were like fireflies in a dark night, and it was more than easy for the enemies to detect them.
During an adventure or battle, if somebody made a fire in a dark environment, they would be committing suicide by turning themselves into a target for everybody.
By the same logic, normal fire would emanate light and heat incessantly, too. Not just the Cultivators, even a regular animal would be able to sense it.
The so-called 'bone fire', on the other hand, was made by igniting the powder of the bones of special beasts.
The constituents inside the bone powder could suppress the waves in the fire and cover up the source of light.
As a result, those within the range of the bone fire could see their surroundings clearly.
But if somebody was three to five meters away from the bone fire, they would not see a burning fire however hard they strained their eyes. They could not even feel the tiniest waves from there.
This was the most amazing part of the bone fire!
However, triggering a bone fire was an ancient secret technique that had been lost forty thousand years ago. The recipe for the bone powder and the gesture and spell to trigger the bone fire had been lost with the passage of time.
Even Jin Xinyue had only read the descriptions of the bone fire in the records of the Demon Beast Empire from more than thirty thousand years ago.
The records also stated that the bone fire technique had been lost thousands of years earlier.
Bone fire! A technique that has been lost for at least thirty thousand years!
Who is he exactly? Why can he perform such an ancient secret art?
Besides, his voice—
The mysterious demon's accent was as rough as iron, and every word lingered on after it was spoken. It sounded quite vintage.
In the demon race, there was a special name for such an intonation, which was 'Elegant Accent'.
It was the accent of forty thousand years ago. Ancient Cultivators often talked in such a tone.
When the demon race rose up and established a Demon Beast Empire across the entire universe, the stronger demons naturally adopted the tone, too.
However, after forty thousand years, especially after the collapse of the Demon Beast Empire and the establishment and fallout of the Star Ocean Imperium, the tones of the demon race and human beings both changed a lot. They were vastly different from the ancient Elegant Accent now.
Right now, the Elegant Accent, which was a mimicry of the tone of forty thousand years ago, would only be used during major ceremonies of the royal family in the demon race.
As a member of the royal family, Jin Xinyue had learned the Elegant Accent, too, but she had to admit that the stranger's accent had a certain unadorned, uncouth feeling to it. His Elegant Accent was not only much more proficient than hers but also far exceeded that of the teacher who had taught her Elegant Accent.
A mysterious and strong demon lurking in a small village!
He seemed to have popped out of nowhere in the weird forest fire half a month ago.
He considered the ancient secret techniques petty tricks, he has left the materials of the demon beasts and the scraps of ancient magical equipment from forty thousand years ago lying around so randomly, and he can speak such standard, authentic ancient Elegant Accent!
Who can he possibly be?
Jin Xinyue thought hard for a moment. Suddenly, she shuddered as if hit by a lightning, because she came up with an impossible answer, and she almost exclaimed.
Could it be—
Li Yao stared at her coldly and quietly. The bone fire that was bouncing weirdly left twisted shadows on his face that looked like his unpredictable killing intent.
The bone fire inside his palm was like a candle in wind. It was flickering and shrank to the size of a bean multiple times, but it shone stubbornly again every time it appeared to be dying down. Jin Xinyue felt her heart pounding, and her head was dizzy.
It's time for a gamble!
After connecting all the weird behaviors of the stranger together, Jin Xinyue figured out a shocking answer.
She made up her mind and blinked before she shouted quickly, "Senior, please don't kill me. I'm very useful for you!
"My name is Jin Xinyue. I am the First Princess of the Gold Crow Kingdom, which is the best of the four most powerful kingdoms of the Blood Demon Sector. We govern all the Feather Clan in the world and dominate the sky!
"My father, Jin Tuyi, is one of the twelve demons of the Pantheon of Demons as well as the commander-in-chief of the coalition army of the demon race. Billions of demons listen to his command!
"If you are lenient enough to pardon me for my disrespect, senior, you will be an honorable guest of the Gold Crow Kingdom and receive the help from the entire country!"
Li Yao laughed in contempt. There was no interest in his eyes at all.
Jin Xinyue was even more positive about her assumption, so she probed further. "Senior, do you know that you have made a quite troublesome enemy?
"The insect demon that you killed just now was named Yuan Hao; he was a prince of the Nether Spring Kingdom, another one of the four most powerful kingdom. Elder Nether Spring, his master, is also a top expert of the Blood Demon Sector. He is brutal, sordid, and petty. Now that you have pissed him off, he will certainly not stop asking for your trouble!"
"Okay." Li Yao nodded. "Are you done yet? You are going to die if you are."
Jin Xinyue observed the stranger. She could tell that the mysterious demon really did not care about the friendship of a demon emperor and the threat of another demon emperor.
Judging from his easiness, it was even possible that this was not the first time he had slain an important figure such as Yuan Hao.
It was definitely not a threat that he claimed that he was going to kill her; he was merely stating an unimportant fact!
"Senior!"
Jin Xinyue was ninety percent sure about his identity now. In her last try, she raised her voice and said, "I'm a saintess of the Pantheon of Demons, and I'm familiar with the history over the past tens of thousands of years. I also possess countless secret techniques for the training of demons that have been developed in the recent thousands of years!
"There are also many other secret arts that I can find in the library of the Gold Crow Kingdom and the Pantheon of Demons even if I don't know them myself!
"I assume that you must be familiarizing yourself with 'modern' society when you hid in the small village, right?
"But for such a far-flung village, the best they had must have been preliminary body-training techniques. There would have been nothing advanced at all. You were completely wasting your time there, senior!
"Only I can help you fit into 'modern' society quickly!"
Jin Xinyue intentionally stressed 'modern'.
"Huh?"
Li Yao narrowed his eyes. His killing intent, as if tangible, spurted out of his bandages and congregated into an unstoppable tornado that pressed Jin Xinyue to the ground, making her unable to move anymore.
"Are you forcing me to kill you?"
Tears in her eyes, Jin Xinyue replied in a shivering voice, "Spare my life, senior! I really don't know anything. I'm trying hard to think how I can possibly be of value to you!
"I would be privileged to die in the hands of an unparalleled expert such as yourself, but if I must die, why don't you wait until I tell you everything that I know? If you kill me then, I will be able to die in peace!"
Li Yao gazed at her for a long time and retracted his killing intent after a snort.
Cold sweat pouring out, Jin Xinyue panted hard and managed to say, "Senior, the world is different today. Human beings have risen again, and the demon race is declining. However, human beings and the demon race have both developed unbelievable methods of training in the past thousands of years that… are possibly different from those that you are familiar with.
"Are you not interested in the methods of training at all?"
Li Yao was silent. The cold bone fire constricted yet again into the size of a needle tip before it shivered and faded out.
In the darkness, Jin Xinyue felt her heart palpitating.
While she was preparing her last words, the stranger did not attack her but said coldly, "Tell me why the three parties were attacking each other. I'm told that the Blood Demon Sector is at war with a world of human beings named the Heaven's Origin Sector. The demon emperors should know what they are doing in the internal fights. Do they never consider the consequences of their decisions at all?"
Jin Xinyue was slightly relieved, knowing that her life was saved, for now.
She swallowed hard and said, "Senior, it was beyond my expectations, too.
"Since you know about the war between the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven's Origin Sector, senior, have you heard of an organization named 'Blade of Chaos'?
"Half a year ago, the 'Battle of Dawn', a large-scale attack that the Blood Demon Sector carried out against the Heaven's Origin Sector, failed. A lot of soldiers returned to the Blood Demon Sector.
"The Blade of Chaos took the opportunity to gather the defeated soldiers and rebelled, which was known as 'Riot of Bloody Blade.
"When the rebellion was at its peak, they occupied 'Bone Sand City', a city governed by the Nether Spring Kingdom in the north.
"My father, Jin Tuyi, was the commander-in-chief of the coalition army of the demon race. He was responsible for annihilating the rebels and suppressing the insurrection.
"I was helping my father by hunting the leadership of the Blade of Chaos. But I discovered that Elder Nether Spring's subordinates were chasing after the Blade of Chaos in secret, too.
"Bone Sand City, which was taken over by the rebels, was the Nether Spring Kingdom's territory. It was normal that Elder Nether Spring hated the Blade of Chaos' guts. I didn't think too much of it in the beginning. But later, I discovered that Elder Nether Spring's subordinates were not chasing after the Blade of Chaos randomly. Instead, they were focused on one squad of the Blade of Chaos and meant to kill them at any cost.
