On the outskirts of A City, outside a luxurious sanatorium,
Lu Zhixing stumbled out, desperately suppressing the demonic aura within him, but black veins quickly spread across his entire body.
His eyes were bloodshot. The demonic aura was completely beyond his control.
How could this be…
How could a wound on an ordinary mortal contain such a heavy demonic aura?
Unless…
Lu Zhixing turned around and looked toward one of the rooms with its lights on.
Recently, there had always been an aura calling out to him. He had been too busy accompanying Xi Yu to make time for it. Today, he had finally found the time and wanted to see what exactly was causing trouble.
It was a person…
Or rather, a vegetative patient.
No.
It was a demon.
It was the demonic aura on that vegetative patient’s body—or rather, the demonic aura within his wound.
That strand of demonic aura was far too powerful, powerful enough to instantly awaken the demonic aura he had suppressed.
Lu Zhixing had sensed that something was wrong at the time and hurriedly left, but it was already too late.
Lu Zhixing looked at the black veins spreading across his arm. His flesh, muscles, and bones all ached.
Unlike the pain brought about by his emotions before, this kind of pain was more like a celebration.
Lu Zhixing leaned against a tree. His vision gradually became blurred, but a hoarse voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.
“Why are you running? Haven’t you been looking for me all this time? Demon Venerable…”
…………………
Lu Zhixing suddenly raised his head.
A mass of black mist blended into the night, yet he could easily see it.
Lu Zhixing stared coldly at the mass of black mist. After a long while, he spat out two words.
“Chenyu—”
Chenyu seemed not to have expected him to guess. It circled around him once.
“Bingo~ You got it right! Aren’t you super happy to see me, my Demon Venerable?”
His guess confirmed, Lu Zhixing closed his eyes. He was quite dissatisfied with the way Chenyu addressed him.
But its appearance really did bring him more joy than surprise.
The method of summoning Chenyu was no secret within the Three Realms. This weapon of the First Demon Venerable possessed tremendous power, and even many people in the God Realm wanted to claim it for themselves.
Yet no one had succeeded.
Neither had he.
He had summoned Chenyu for years without receiving the slightest response. Ever since his Master appeared, he had rarely had the time to summon it.
The most recent time had been before the variety show.
But there had still been no response.
The Zhuohua Arrow had already appeared in the world, and he had already prepared for the worst.
But Chenyu had appeared.
It had even found its way directly to him.
Did this mean he still had hope?
Could he strip away his demonic aura before his Master completely discovered his identity?
Lu Zhixing did not want to waste time talking with it.
“Why do you only have a strand of sword soul?”
The black mist settled onto a tree. Although its voice was hoarse and unpleasant, there was a hint of childish grievance in it.
“Isn’t it because of my previous master? Before he died, he sealed my entire sword!”
“For all these years, countless people have summoned me. Only your power can barely be worthy of me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t respond to you.”
“Luckily, three years ago, the person lying inside accidentally saw me. I took the opportunity to leave a strand of sword soul inside his body, allowing us to meet today~”
Chenyu’s voice sounded like an old, broken blower, but its tone was like that of a six- or seven-year-old child.
“Three years ago?” Lu Zhixing almost choked on his breath. “Then why did you only come looking for me now?”
Three years ago, he had not yet met his Master. If Chenyu had appeared then, he would have already stripped away his demonic bloodline!
He would have already reunited with his Master instead of living in fear day and night, afraid to approach him.
“Aiyoo~ This strand of my sword soul can only affect a very small area. I’ve been working really hard recently just to make you able to sense me.”
Chenyu had been imprisoned for too long. Now that it could suddenly speak with someone, it could not stop talking.
“Are you super excited right now?” Chenyu’s voice was full of pride. “There is no more powerful magical artifact than me in the Three Realms. Now that you’ve obtained me, you should be laughing in your dreams.”
Lu Zhixing’s head throbbed painfully. He only felt that Chenyu was unbearably noisy.
“Stay away from me,” Lu Zhixing said.
Chenyu had been refined using most of the soul of the demon race, and its power was enormous. He was already about to lose control of the demonic aura surging within his body.
“How dare you!” Chenyu said angrily. “You actually dare to dislike me… Eh? Did you use Soul Separation?”
Soul Separation, as its name implied, was the technique of separating one’s soul or spiritual power.
Lu Zhixing had relied on this method to make Xi Yu believe that he was merely a vessel.
Chenyu was able to discover this because Lu Zhixing had summoned it before, using the aura of the demon race.
Chenyu circled around Lu Zhixing.
“God and demon sharing one body. No wonder your power is so strong. But why are you hiding it? You should use your own strength to unify the Three Realms.”
Chenyu excitedly circled around Lu Zhixing. Aside from its master, who had already fallen, it had never seen anyone who possessed both divine and demonic bloodlines.
Lu Zhixing’s blood boiled and roiled, making his pupils turn crimson. He could not understand why this ancient demonic sword had so much nonsense to say. His voice had already become hoarse.
“Where is your true body?”
Chenyu currently had only a strand of sword soul. It had said that the First Demon Venerable had sealed it before his death.
Then where was its true body?
Lu Zhixing looked at the sword soul and waited for it to answer.
“In Miaojiang,” Chenyu said eagerly. “Wutong Village.”
Miaojiang.
Wutong Village.
Lu Zhixing’s pupils contracted.
Chenyu sighed and continued, “The only direct descendants of Miaojiang live in Wutong Village. They live in seclusion and are very hostile toward outsiders. There are very few outsiders in the village, and you have to receive permission from the Heart-Testing Stone before you can enter.”
Lu Zhixing hesitated. This time, he truly was uncertain.
“Besides you, are there any other magical artifacts there?”
“You mean that dull Zhuohua?” Chenyu said disdainfully. “Don’t worry. With me here, he’s no match for you.”
It really was the village where Zhuohua was located.
How strange.
Two such powerful magical artifacts were actually in the same village.
As Lu Zhixing was realizing this, Chenyu suddenly noticed someone approaching.
No.
A god.
A deity had actually descended into the mortal world.
At this moment, it only had a strand of sword soul. It would not be a match for any god, so Chenyu hurriedly said to Lu Zhixing, “Remember to come find me as soon as possible, okay?”
After saying that, Chenyu hurriedly fled.
The instant Chenyu disappeared, the demonic aura within Lu Zhixing completely lost control. The murderous aura around his entire body surged, and fine beads of sweat covered his forehead.
The demonic aura within his body roared and churned, trying to overwhelm his spiritual power.
After using Soul Separation, the two forces that had originally coexisted and fused harmoniously within his body had been divided into independent entities, suppressing and resisting each other.
But now Chenyu had appeared and awakened the dormant demonic aura.
It hurt…
Every bone felt as though it were being scraped by a sharp blade.
Lu Zhixing’s originally pitch-black pupils turned blood-red. Cold sweat broke out across his forehead, and his entire body uncontrollably fell forward.
“Lu Zhixing!”
Xi Yu cried out in alarm and caught him in his arms.
Lu Zhixing’s consciousness was muddled and his vision blurred. He could not even see the person in front of him clearly.
He could only hear a familiar voice and smell the sweet fragrance of pear blossoms.
“Xi Yu…”
Lu Zhixing’s voice was barely more than a breath, yet it was hoarse as though it had been scraped over with sandpaper.
Xi Yu said, “It’s me.”
Lu Zhixing wrapped his arms around his waist. He could feel his rationality being stripped away bit by bit.
He was about to lose control of himself.
Lu Zhixing gritted his teeth and pushed Xi Yu away.
“You… leave!”
Although Lu Zhixing told Xi Yu to leave, his own footsteps retreated even faster. He stumbled as he tried to get away from Xi Yu.
His Master had been right.
The bloodline of the demon race was inherently evil, filthy, and impure.
The instant the demonic aura lost control, the desire in his heart rose with it.
When Xi Yu had just held him, Lu Zhixing had used all his self-control to suppress the word “Master” that had almost slipped from his lips.
Xi Yu staggered from the push. By the time he recovered and tried to touch Lu Zhixing again, he only caught a piece of his clothing.
The air still contained traces of demonic aura, causing Xi Yu to stop in his tracks.
It was not from Lu Zhixing.
It was another kind.
Extremely faint, hidden beneath Lu Zhixing’s demonic aura and almost impossible to notice.
But Xi Yu was far too sensitive to the aura of the demon race.
Xi Yu raised his head and looked toward one of the sanatorium’s floors. His expression gradually darkened.
He took a step forward, intending to go there, but soon stopped again.
His gaze followed the direction in which Lu Zhixing had disappeared.
Finally, he gritted his teeth, followed Lu Zhixing’s direction, and vanished from the spot.
……………………………
Lu Zhixing collapsed onto the bed. Cold sweat continuously seeped from his body, leaving patches of dark stains on the blue-green sheets. He curled up and trembled.
Forcibly suppressing the demonic aura had already caused a bloody sweetness to rise into his throat. Large black veins along his neck slowly turned dark red, like blood.
He opened his eyes. His crimson eyes flashed with an eerie light in the darkness.
By the time Xi Yu flashed into the room, Lu Zhixing was already half-conscious. Yet the moment he saw Xi Yu, he hurriedly covered his face.
“Don’t look at me!”
Xi Yu ignored him. He set up a barrier inside the room, then grabbed Lu Zhixing by the collar and prepared to transmit spiritual power into him.
Lu Zhixing’s demonic aura was currently unstable, suppressing his spiritual power. As long as his spiritual power grew strong enough to overwhelm the demonic aura, he would no longer suffer so much.
Xi Yu’s idea was simple.
But for some reason, Lu Zhixing simply refused to let him touch him.
“I don’t need you.”
Lu Zhixing pried Xi Yu’s hand away.
“Go. Hurry and leave, go!”
He was about to lose control.
He was about to lose control…
He was about to lose control!!!
After being pushed away several times, Xi Yu finally lost his temper.
“You’re suffering for no reason. What is wrong with you?”
Lu Zhixing hid beside the bed, using the blanket to cover himself. Only a pair of crimson, slightly damp eyes remained visible.
Xi Yu put his hands on his hips. During his struggle with Lu Zhixing just now, one of the buttons at the collar of his shirt had come undone, exposing a large stretch of his collarbone, white as jade.