The main hall of Qingyun Peak.
A young disciple carrying a Pure Qi Pill walked up to the entrance. He glanced at the tightly shut doors of the main hall, then could not resist nudging the other young disciple beside him with his elbow.
“Peak Lord still hasn’t gotten up?”
The other young disciple was holding a set of clean clothes for Lu Guichen. At that, he shot him a sideways glance.
“What kind of question is that? If Peak Lord were already up, would I still be standing here waiting?”
“Why are you so touchy this early in the morning? Eat gunpowder for breakfast?”
“Not really. I’ve just been standing here too long. My legs are tired.”
“That’s true. Peak Lord’s schedule has been completely erratic lately. It’s made it impossible for us to serve him properly. I wonder what he’s been busy with.”
“I could tolerate the irregular schedule, but haven’t you noticed how foul his temper has become lately? I heard that yesterday, a young disciple said something wrong and angered him. Peak Lord threw him into the Death Demon Forest!”
“Seriously? Does he even have a chance of surviving?”
“How would I know? But most of the disciples who’ve been thrown into the Death Demon Forest in the past never made it out…”
The two whispered among themselves, completely unaware that, not far away, a powerful, transparent divine sense was coldly watching them.
“Whoosh!”
The doors to the main hall suddenly flew open. A powerful suction force burst out through the entrance, and under the terrified gazes of the two young disciples, they were instantly dragged inside!
“Ah!”
They only had time to let out a single cry before the doors slammed shut, cutting off everything outside.
The entire scene happened so quickly that no one noticed a thing.
Inside the hall, the two young disciples hit the floor and rolled inward with a series of dull thumps.
One of them was abruptly stopped when a foot pressed down on him.
Before he could raise his head, a familiar voice came from above.
“Weren’t you curious about what I’ve been doing, Peak Lord? Now, lift your head and see for yourself.”
The young disciple froze for a moment, then hurriedly raised his head. At a single glance, his eyes widened, and his face filled with terror.
Lu Guichen’s body had become incredibly muscular, and powerful dark-red demonic energy swirled around him.
His blood-red eyes stared down at the disciple with a sinister, savage gaze filled with killing intent and greed.
Before the disciple could react, Lu Guichen reached out and seized him by the throat, lifting him into the air with one hand.
“I originally had no intention of acting against the people around me so soon. But you brought this upon yourselves. You dared gossip about me right outside my hall. You’re asking to die!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Guichen clenched his five fingers.
The young disciple’s vital essence, blood, and spiritual power immediately transformed into tangible streams and were drawn into Lu Guichen’s palm.
Stripped of his vital essence and blood, the disciple’s body withered at a visible speed.
In barely a dozen breaths, he had become a dried corpse, which Lu Guichen casually tossed onto the floor.
“D-Demon… demon… demons! Demons!” The other young disciple finally snapped out of his terror. Shouting frantically, he scrambled toward the doors.
However, before he could reach them, a powerful force yanked him back.
Lu Guichen’s gaze was icy. He reached out and clenched his hand, repeating the same process as he began absorbing the disciple’s vital essence, blood, and spiritual energy.
The young disciple struggled desperately, but they were merely ordinary disciples of Qingyun Peak, with cultivation bases only at the Qi Refining Stage.
How could they possibly be a match for Lu Guichen?
In moments, another dried corpse lay on the floor.
A dense surge of vitality flooded into Lu Guichen’s body. The gloom on his face gradually faded, and he exhaled in comfort.
At the same time, a transparent black figure slowly emerged behind him. Seeing Lu Guichen in that state, it gave a mocking laugh.
“Peak Lord Lu, you’re becoming more and more like a demon. You’ve truly mastered this Spirit Transformation Art.”
After absorbing the vitality, Lu Guichen ignored the shadow’s taunt. With a wave of his hand, he shattered the two dried corpses into dust.
With another wave, he swept the ashes out through the window. Only then did he turn around and look at the shadow, his tone displeased.
“Didn’t I tell you not to appear during the day? The Demon-Suppressing Array of the Immortalfall Sect is active around the clock. If it detects you, are you planning to drag me down with you?”
“Heh. You used a demonic Spirit Transformation Art, and so much demonic energy leaked out, yet the Demon-Suppressing Array didn’t notice a thing. How could it possibly detect this tiny demonic spirit body of mine?”
The shadow let out another mocking laugh.
“No matter how much you don’t want to see me, it won’t change the fact that you’re a half-demon!”
“Peak Lord Lu, since you’ve already made your choice, stop hesitating. You have no way back!”
Lu Guichen’s grip tightened slightly around the teacup. After a moment, it slowly relaxed.
“You don’t need to remind me what I should do. The inspections around Medicine Cloud Peak have been strict lately. Tell your people not to cause me any trouble. Otherwise, even I won’t be able to protect you.”
He had already done his best to provide them with convenience, but demons were especially prone to exposing themselves beneath the Demon-Suppressing Array.
He could cover for them once or twice, but if it happened too often, it would attract the attention of the other members of the sect. By then, it would be beyond his ability to control.
The shadow curled its lips into a smile.
“Don’t worry, Peak Lord Lu. It won’t be long now. Everything will be over soon!”
Not long after those words fell, the shadow slowly faded away.
Lu Guichen’s face was dark enough to frighten anyone.
Several years ago, he had gone down the mountain to track a high-grade spirit beast, only to stumble into a trap set by the Demon King and be captured.
As it happened, the demons were conducting an experiment—one capable of allowing demonic energy to contaminate and devour spiritual power.
The Demon King did not kill him on the spot. Instead, he injected him with that special devouring power before releasing him.
At first, nothing seemed unusual, so he paid it no mind.
It was only later, when demonic energy began to manifest and his spiritual power became unstable, that he realized the truth.
He had searched everywhere for a way to resolve the problem, but to no avail. The thing was like a parasite attached to his bones—there was no way to shake it off!
All these years, he had been living under tremendous strain, hiding his condition and daring not to advance his cultivation recklessly.
That was, until he met Su Lingxi.
Su Lingxi possessed a wisp of immortal energy within her body. That immortal energy could suppress the demonic energy inside him.
Even when the Demon-Suppressing Array swept over him, it could not detect anything abnormal!
That was the real reason he treasured Su Lingxi.
He treasured the immortal energy within her!
Yet he had never expected that after Su Lingxi went to the Death Demon Forest, she would lose that immortal energy completely.
He had been furious at the time.
Meanwhile, the demons around him had begun making their move, threatening to expose him if he refused to help them.
Left with no choice, he agreed to the demons’ demands and began covering up their activities within the Immortalfall Sect.
This was not the first time he had killed one of his fellow disciples.
As early as three years ago, after discovering that devouring vitality through the Spirit Transformation Art could increase his strength, he had already killed disciples from his own sect.
However, he held a high position, and it was far too easy for him to arrange a few “accidental” deaths.
No one would suspect that he was the killer.
He was also careful. He did not slaughter Qingyun Peak’s disciples indiscriminately. His targets were either disciples from the outer sect or disciples from other peaks.
A few deaths here and there would go unnoticed.
It was just that the demonic energy within his body seemed to be growing increasingly violent.
