Way of the Devil

Lu Sheng quickly displayed his talent in the arts after several attempts to unleash the arts.

He did not use Deep Blue. He laid down his foundations through hard work. While he silently looked for Mental Energy within the seven-colored dragons’ treasure cave, he displayed his talents in unleashing the arts. He avoided attracting the attention of the elders as much as possible.

Due to his extremely formidable Spirit Power, within his first year of learning from the art materials, he successfully became a rank-1 Sorcerer.

He easily mastered three incantation languages and 16 art modules.

It should be known that unleashing an art required weaving one’s own mind power into various modules to match the various peculiar materials. The user had to build the art module just like assembling a machine.

Then, the user would have to infuse it with elemental energy and unleash the art.

Different arts would require the infusion of elemental energy in different proportions. It was the same as preparing chemical solutions. If there was a slight mistake in the preparation, the end product of the unleashed art would probably result in an accidental explosion.

Hence, the basic arts recorded in the books were the most perfect modules attained after the art users’ countless years of improvements and accumulation.

Lu Sheng did not dare create his own art modules, either.

Usually, the success rate of an original art would be anywhere between one over a thousand or five over a thousand. The instability of the elements was the greatest contributor to the probability of an explosion happening.

Hence, Lu Sheng merely followed the contents of the textbooks and improved through meditation.

Even so, he successfully became a rank-2 Sorcerer in his fifth year. However, he maintained an appearance of an ordinary apprentice’s level before the elders.

At this point, he started noticing the system of the magic net. This system allowed him to unleash arts with greater ease, but it lessened his contact with and manipulation of the art’s nature.

What caught his attention more was that the magic net was something controlled by the gods.

This fact reminded him again that there were gods in this world.

***

Within the dragon cavern.

Lu Sheng drew his claw along the ground and left a fine, slender mark on it.

The scratch marks under his feet formed a pattern which resembled a grand formation.

This was a Dragon Language Formation. It was a special formation that could only be controlled by dragons. It was constructed using a runic system unique to the dragons.

Lu Sheng, with Deep Blue’s help, had spent a whole month to master this.

“Lu Sheng!” Suddenly, a young dragon called his name. When Lu Sheng was three years old, he had the other dragons call him by this nickname so that his real name would not be exposed.

He was the only one who knew that it was his actual name.

“What’s the matter, Sari?”

“Brother Lu Sheng, Teacher Yati wants us to attend her evocation class…” said the young dragon Sari carefully.

Lu Sheng’s claws, which were drawing the formation, paused slightly.

He knew that Teacher Yati was the best teacher among their teachers. However, that was judging by the other young dragons’ standards.

He was now close to becoming a rank-3 Sorcerer. However, Yati was still teaching the young dragons to progress from being an apprentice Sorcerer and construct a module to become a rank-1 Sorcerer…

According to normal logic, a Sorcerer with average qualities would at least need 15 years to progress from being an apprentice to a rank-1 Sorcerer.

Progressing from a rank-1 Sorcerer to a rank-3 Sorcerer would depend on the user’s natural endowments. A handful of elites could achieve this, but they would need another 15 years or so.

Lu Sheng, on the other hand, progressed from an apprentice to a rank-3 Sorcerer in six years.

With this pace, even in the human society, where experts reportedly grew at the quickest pace, he could be considered a terrifying genius.

‘Content that’s about rank-1 Sorcerers… is of no use for me. However, it’s not a bad idea for me to head over and get on her good side to obtain some antiques.’ The most important thing was that he did not want to expose his terrifying talent… yet.

The Dragon Tribes always attracted the attention of the gods. Even the abject seven-colored dragons were no exception.

Hence, he had to make sure that his words and actions would have no flaws.

“You go on ahead. I’ll be right behind you,” Lu Sheng replied drily.

“O-okay!” Sari hastily responded.

For some unknown reason, she found herself fearful of this Delin Anka who hatched first among them. She did not understand why Delin Anka wanted everyone else to call him Lu Sheng.

That name was strange and difficult to pronounce.

However, she could clearly sense that Lu Sheng was different from the other two young dragons.

He was a loner who liked to immerse himself in books, and would seldom take a step out of the cave for a whole day. Nay, he might even spend a week or an entire month cooped up within the cave.

If the hunter dragons did not provide the young dragons with food at fixed intervals, Sari suspected that Lu Sheng would have died of starvation in the cave.

When they began to move out into their own caves, Lu Sheng chose a mine which was located slightly further away than the other young dragons.

The other young dragons’ caves were close to the dragon cavern. He was the only one who intentionally chose to live further away.

Sari had been curious about him to begin with. Now, she felt that he was shrouded in mystery.

Her opinion of Lu Sheng was that he was very powerful. Even the strongest Ansaifei would not be a match for him.

Although the two dragons had never actually fought, Sari could not explain this blind confidence she had in the young dragon.

In truth, Lu Sheng was a taciturn dragon, but whenever he spoke, Ansaifei and Bog would listen to him.

This made Sari admire him.

She hurried on to the class in high spirits. Lu Sheng arrived on time as well. Although he made it into the cave on the clock, he managed not to be late.

“Today, we’re having a practical session.” Teacher Yati was the most beautiful female dragon among the Seven-colored Dragon Tribe.

She had the most brilliant and gorgeous wings, the most beautiful neckline, and the most slender and fit body. Her voice was also as crisp and sweet as if a young girl’.

“Practical session?” Ansaifei stood up with a surprised look on his face. “Teacher Yati, are you finally bringing us to the Demonic Cultivation Mountain Range?”

“Demonic Cultivation Mountain Range? Of course not. I just want all of you to prepare for any possible danger that might befall you in the future,” Yati replied drily.

She had a good impression of these four young dragons. However, her personality was cold to begin with. Hence, she was not used to wearing her heart on her sleeve.

“Where are we going to, then?” Bog hastily asked in his loud voice. He was highly interested in adventures. Unlike the battle-crazy Ansaifei, he preferred to explore the unknown.

“We’re going to somewhere you’ll never expect.” Yati smiled, which was a rare sight. “Come with me.”

After she finished, she brought the four dragons deeper into the dragon cavern.

The four young dragons followed closely behind her. They flew along the tunnels of the dragon cavern and gradually went deeper and deeper. In no time, the dragon cavern expanded, and they seemed to have arrived in an underground karst cave.

Yati did not stop. She kept turning left and right along the karst cave’s tunnels. She only stopped after slightly more than an hour.

The young dragons peered into the darkness before them. With their ability to see in the dark, they clearly saw four pitch-black silhouettes towering before them in the distance.

“These are four magic war puppets we’ve found. They are all of the silver rank. They should be enough to serve as your training partners for a long time,” Yati spoke peacefully.

“The magic puppets have been fixed. What I want you to do now is to unleash your best art against them.”

“Is that all?” Sari asked.

“Of course not. These four magic puppets are covered in a layer of special paint which converts fire element into energy. Your goal is to each charge a magic puppet to its brim. Remember, you’re only allowed to use the fire element, and you may only use the Dragon Language magic,” Yati reminded them.

“Is there a time limit?” Lu Sheng asked.

“No,” Yati replied calmly. “The puppets will only be charged if the fire elemental art it was hit with has met the requirements. If the art isn’t up to standards, it’ll be disintegrated by the magic-resistant layer, and your effort will be wasted.”

“Is that so?” Lu Sheng nodded. “Are we free to choose any one of them?” He could roughly understand what his teacher meant now.

“You may.” Yati glanced at Lu Sheng.

She had always had her eye on this young dragon.

He was steady and not rash, detailed and not brash. He was always capable of maintaining his composure as he dealt with the affairs of the world. He would surely have a good future.

She liked this side of Lu Sheng.

“Okay, I’ve made my choice.” Lu Sheng walked casually up to the second magic puppet. He was within five meters of the puppet when he heard some clicks. The magic puppet opened its eyes and stared at Lu Sheng.

Lu Sheng studied the runic patterns on the magic puppet’s chest carefully.

‘It’s only a rank-1 art energy-absorbing formation.’ Lu Sheng, who was almost a rank- Sorcerer, could naturally see through this magic puppet.

“Dragon Fire.” He chanted the name of the art with a Dragon Language spell.

A scorching ball of flames immediately appeared on his right claw, which now resembled a torch.

Bog could not help but exclaim, “Instant activation! It’s an instant activation!”

Surprise was written all over his face. This was a rank-1 art! It was an official art!

After trying hard for half a day, all he could manage were some embers on his palm. He felt that he needed to practice for two more years before he could unleash this rank-1 art in its complete form.

However, Lu Sheng had…

Bog was not the only one. Ansaifei and Sari stared and gawked. They felt completely speechless as they saw Lu Sheng making the feat look easy.

Even Yati felt slightly surprised.

However, a rank-1 art was nothing to her. She was slightly moved by this, but she calmed down soon enough.

“Fuh!”

The Dragon Fire was easily absorbed into the magic puppet’s chest.

The magic puppet’s eyes brightened up slightly.

“That’s not enough. You’ll need at least 14 more shots of Dragon Fire of the same intensity,” Yati reminded.

“Understood.” Lu Sheng nodded. Then, he easily unleashed two consecutive shots of Dragon Fire, which were both successfully absorbed into the magic puppet’s body.

Even Yati was shocked by the steady and fast pace at which Lu Sheng unleashed the art.

It had to be known that after an art was unleashed, all memories of this art would be erased. Although the magic net would help in constructing the module, it was still a hassle to go through the process.

“Oh, Teacher Yati. I like antiques and gemstones a lot. I wonder if I can visit your collection cave in the future?” Lu Sheng suddenly raised his head and told Yati his wish.

Yati was slightly stunned. Then, she looked at the three charred spots on the magic puppet’s body. They were the marks left behind by the successful Dragon Fire shots.

“If you manage to activate your magic puppet, I’ll promise you that,” Yati said drily.

“That’s easy.” Lu Sheng smiled.

“Oh?” Yati was slightly taken aback. This mission was not a simple feat for a six-year-old dragon.

“Since you’ve said that it’s easy, can you activate in in five days?”

“I can.” Lu Sheng nodded.

The other three young dragons stepped forward as well. They were unwilling to show weakness.

“I can do it as well!” Ansaifei stepped forward, brimming with confidence. With a wave of his claw, he instantly activated a light of flames as well.

However, the source of the light was not Dragon Fire. It was the rank-0 art, Illuminance…

The two other young dragons stepped forward as well and unleashed Illuminance… Compared to Lu Sheng’s Dragon Fire, they paled greatly, though Illuminance and Dragon Fire did resemble each other…

Yati shook her head helplessly. She looked at the three young dragons and decided not to waste her energy on words.