Way of the Devil

“Level six…”

“Level seven…”

“Level eight…”

…

Every time it flickered, dense, transparent threads would faintly appear around Lu Sheng. These threads behaved like tendrils as they emanated wildly from his body and spread in all directions.

The floor, the wall… every single corner in the cavern was filled with countless threads that danced and contorted wildly.

After a long while, Lu Sheng had a faint feeling that something was happening deep within his cells. It was vague, but it was as if three black holes were opening up at three spots inside of him.

These three spots were faintly discernible. It seemed like they were there, but they were not. There appeared to be a layer of mask above them.

Lu Sheng attempted to touch them with his spirit, but to no avail. Something was preventing him from touching these three spots.

‘These must be the Three Limits in the records.’ Lu Sheng stopped the derivation and glanced at his Mental Energy. He had spent more than 3,000 units.

The contents of the frame were completely different now.

“Tu Style Healing Art, Level 769.”

His spirit-prompting thread and transplanting art were also raised to level 760 and above. What caught Lu Sheng’s attention were the Three Limits.

At this stage, Lu Sheng had the feeling that the healing art was derived to its peak already.

The form and effects of the spirit-prompting threads were already strengthened so much that they were at the limits unattainable even in theory.

His transplanting art, on the other hand, also had a current success rate of nearly 90%—under certain circumstances.

Lu Sheng could feel the countless spirit-prompting threads that were incapable of further increase. If the teacher Tu Jin had several hundred spirit-prompting threads within himself, the number of spirit-prompting threads within Lu Sheng’s body was at least several millions now.

The countless spirit-prompting threads were like living beings. They kept wriggling within Lu Sheng’s body, and occasionally melted into vigor while instantly forming threads.

‘I can feel that my spirit-prompting threads are already at their limits… However, the Three Limits remains intact. It’s clear that this can’t be naturally attained by raising my realm. It seems… I need another turning point.’

Lu Sheng closed his eyes. He extended his arms to test the effects of his healing art after all the experiments he’d conducted.

“Bzzt…”

A tiny red moth was flying about nearby.

Lu Sheng stretched out his arm. Formless spirit-prompting threads instantly spread out. He released about a thousandth of his total capacity. It was only a speck to him, but this meager amount had wrapped itself around the moth in the blink of an eye.

Unlike before, as the spirit-prompting threads surged wildly into the moth, its body swiftly enlarged.

Originally, it was the size of a nail. It quickly grew to the size of a fist, and then a head.

‘Looks like it’s no different than before… The only thing is that it’s much easier for my vigor to enter the target’s body…’

“Bam!”

He did not even finish his thought when he saw the space where the moth was erupt. Countless black moth larvae sprayed in all directions.

Lu Sheng’s eyes widened in shock as he took several steps backward. He appeared at another spot with lightning speed. He observed this cavern which was now splattered with moth larvae.

“What’s this?!” His pupils suddenly contracted.

The black moth larvae that covered various corners of the cavern began to enlarge wildly. Then, they swiftly hatched. After a mere dozen breaths, at least 10,000 red moths hatched from the larvae.

Countless moths flapped their wings. They made collective flapping sounds as invisible poisonous powder spread from their wings.

In no time, these newly hatched larvae swiftly enlarged again. It seemed as if they could explode a second time.

However, it seemed as if the vigor infused into them was insufficient this time. The 10,000 moths enlarged to the size of a fist and slowed down.

“Bzzt…”

Tens of thousands of moths danced around Lu Sheng. They seemed to take him as their master.

“How wonderful…” Lu Sheng exclaimed with genuine praise. He did not expect that such a situation would result when the Tu Style Healing Art was derived to this extent.

He could sense every single moth in here. The intensity of their vigor was not weaker than a grown man’s.

“Come.” He raised a hand and released his spirit toward one of the moths.

As expected, the moth quickly flew toward him and perched on his fingertip.

After doing some tests, Lu Sheng noticed with surprise that this moth was also as strong as a grown man.

“What an interesting discovery.” Lu Sheng gave it some thought. Then, he tried to order these moths to fly out of the tunnel and spread out in all directions with his spirit.

“I’ll have to observe them for some time.”

Lu Sheng let this be for now. He returned his focus to the Three Limits.

He could feel the three spots where the black holes were within him were slowly devouring the spirit-prompting threads inside his body.

It was as if the objective of the spirit-prompting threads’ creation was to fill these three black holes.

‘Don’t tell me…’ Lu Sheng’s heart fluttered slightly. He started moving countless spirit-prompting threads within himself to surge wildly toward one of the black holes.

Although he had obtained the book on the fundamental Three Limits, he was still largely unsure about the cultivation method. The secret tome was being all mysterious about it. The vague and mystical descriptions were more than he could process. He could not even understand what they meant.

However, Lu Sheng made his own guesses based on the entire text. These Three Limits was most probably born from the accumulation of spirit-prompting threads throughout the years.

‘According to the secret tome, the first Limit is Life, the limit of the physical body. If I want to break through it, I’ll need countless spirit-prompting threads. The Three Limits are three extreme secret skills that can help me break through the limits of my physical body, spirit, and will.’

Lu Sheng recalled the contents of the book.

In theory, for the first Limit, he would have to insert 108,976 spirit-prompting threads.

However, in theory, even if he cultivated the spirit-prompting threads to the maximum level, he would only have several thousand threads at most.

Although the number of a hundred thousand spirit-prompting threads was mentioned in the fundamental secret tome, this was still an impossible task to any doctor cultivating spirit-prompting threads.

However, for Lu Sheng, this was but a small part of the total spirit-prompting threads he possessed within himself.

He quickly inserted more than 110,000 spirit-prompting threads into the first black hole.

Gradually, he slowly noticed that the first black hole slowly sharpened. Within the black hole, there seemed to be a black, beating heart condensed out of some unknown substance.

‘This is the first Limit? Blood Heart?’ Lu Sheng examined this black heart with shock. He seemed to be lost in thought.

When he saw that the Blood Heart was about to take form, Lu Sheng gave it some more thought before activating his spirit-prompting threads. He stuffed them into the black hole.

100,000 spirit-prompting threads had given rise to a Blood Heart. What if he gave it more?

Lu Sheng decided to give it a try.

In no time, more than 800,000 spirit-prompting threads surged into the black hole. The black heart grew deeper and darker. Distorted and dim green runic patterns slowly appeared on its surface.

“Hiss…”

Eventually, after a dozen breaths, the first Limit’s Blood Heart was condensed completely and successfully took form.

Lu Sheng had stuffed more than 2,000,000 spirit-prompting threads into it throughout the process. The Blood Heart within the black hole had absorbed everything like a bottomless pit.

‘As expected… The more I insert, the stronger this Blood Heart becomes.’ Lu Sheng sensed the domineering aura emanating from this black heart.

‘Well, the next step is to use it…’ Lu Sheng’s gaze flickered. This thing had taken so much of his spirit-prompting threads; there was no way that the peculiar appearance was the only thing useful about it.

After quickly understanding its application, Lu Sheng collected his thoughts and focused on earning money once more.

“It’ll be time to leave after I earn some more ice money…” Everything was ready, the easterly wind was all that was left[1. An idiom, basically means the preparations are done, and all that’s missing is some important detail.].

*********************

The group of light yellow buildings resembled models built from clay. They exuded warmth under the rays of dusk.

The temperature was clearly low, but Libra City’s atmosphere was as lively as in the new year.

Lu Sheng packed his belongings and applied for two weeks’ leave from Tu Jin. Then, he passed through the main city’s Transportation Formation and came here.

He had long wanted to see what Libra City’s main city looked like. However, when he was actually in the main city, he was slightly disappointed.

The main city was just like any other city. The only unique thing about it was that almost everyone wore a mask over their face. Only their eyes could be seen.

Countless yellow-grayish buildings and the wind-blown sand on the ground made the entire main city appear dirty.

With his jade certificate, Lu Sheng easily located several shops that sold precious metals.

Then, he did some searching around the city center in the afternoon. Eventually, he obtained all the materials he needed to set up a formation.

At the very least, it was enough for one use. He would leave the next use to the others.

In the main city, other than the cluster of buildings where the council was, the library area was the most mysterious place.

Lu Sheng had passed by it a few times, and wanted to enter it more than once. However, he was discouraged by the hefty sum he had to pay to get in.

Naturally, he would not be going in to view some low-grade secret formulas. He was determined to view books that were of his level. However, at his level, even the lowest price range displayed was more than twice the ice money he had right now.

He decided not to think about it for now. Lu Sheng felt that he did not have enough patients yet. He could still expand his business. However, he was worried that if there were too many cases, his patients would somehow notice the issue.

However, he did not expect that the level of confidence his patients had in him later on was already at a mind-blowing level.

After his return from the main city, two weeks was enough for him to set up his formation and carry out another Arrival.

Throughout this period, Lu Sheng had completely understood the application of the Blood Heart. He could use it to temporarily strengthen his body to the next level. However, there was a time limit. Judging from the Mental Energy he’d spent on this, it was a great deal.

This was only the first Limit, and already it had such great effects. Lu Sheng had tried it out himself. It truly did raise his main body’s strength to the next level.

This also made his main body, which had remained dormant for quite some time, experience some changes.

The Blood Heart’s effects made him anticipate the two subsequent Limits even more.

With the bulk of materials, Lu Sheng went back to the cavern he dug up. He started to officially set up the formation.

….

Yellow Springs Planet. Great Song.

Duanmu Wan oversaw the unloading of the vehicles. Everything was done in an orderly manner. The items were transported to the underground cavern where the Prime Devil Sect was.

After all these years, she had returned to this place. The Prime Devil Sect had also returned to its original base.

The blackish underground palace complex had been destroyed overnight during the Devil Disaster. The entire underground palace complex was deathly still.

Devil Qi and the ghosts that had remained here for thousands of years had vanished.

Duanmu Wan sighed. She looked at the busy Prime Devil Sect disciples.

“What’s the matter, Little Wan?” Liu Shanzi walked toward her with an exhausted look on his face. He was also overseeing the settling of the disciples into the underground palace complex.

Although the place was in ruins, it was still their ancestral grounds which had been in the sect for many generations. Though he felt a certain degree of sadness, he was quite happy about this.

“I’m just wondering how’s the sect master doing right now…” Duanmu Wan answered softly. He made all the preparations, but he did not reveal his own whereabouts.

“Little Sheng will be fine. I believe in him.” Liu Shanzi smiled. “Is everything in Lu Manor above the ground settled?”