Volume One: The Devil's Nature Never Changes
Arc: The Inheritance of the Immortal Shrine
Scarlet King immediately raised the flute to his lips and began playing.
A beautiful, tranquil melody emerged, resembling flowing water mixed with the sound of countless droplets repeatedly falling upon a sheet of ice.
A gateway immediately opened above them.
But the flute slipped from Scarlet King's hand, and his body slumped slightly.
Ikalat immediately understood what had happened.
"He fell asleep… It seems he has a weakness toward music."
Scarlet King had never found a way to stop music from affecting him.
Even earplugs had proven useless. He had once tried attending a musical celebration while wearing them, only to fall asleep in the middle of the crowd.
That was why he had decided he could simply wake up after some time inside the Immortal Shrine.
Liu Zai Hang immediately picked him up, and the three flew into the gateway with Scarlet King.
They traveled through a blue space-time tunnel that moved along with them.
The passage was blue at first, but the farther they advanced, the more its color shifted toward purple.
Outside the tunnel, within the surrounding darkness, countless bizarre and distorted creatures could be seen.
Ikalat spoke.
"Oh, it is a good thing we are inside a protected passage. Those are Primordial Chaos Beasts."
Lin Yuan asked:
"Primordial Chaos Beasts? Are they a type of ordinary beast?"
Ikalat answered while Liu Zai Hang listened to them.
"They are a special type of beast. Beasts are divided into two main categories: ordinary beasts and unique beasts."
"Ordinary beasts include elemental beasts, such as Lightning Wolves; demonic beasts, such as the Demonic Lava Ajlum; and classical beasts, such as the Black-Heart Deer."
"As for unique beasts, they include Dao Beasts—mindless, chaotic creatures considered the strongest type of beast, though they are also the rarest. Examples include Azathoth, Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, and Nyarlathotep."
"They also include Heavenly Spirits, such as dragons and phoenixes, as well as Chaos Beasts like the ones outside. There are also Nothingness Beasts, Void Beasts, and many other types."
"Primordial Chaos Beasts are the most aggressive. Beasts themselves are divided into eleven ranks—"
Lin Yuan interrupted him.
"Wait. Are there not only nine beast ranks?"
This time, Liu Zai Hang answered.
"That is correct, but only in the First Dimension. The First Dimension is so weak that its beast-ranking system only begins at the ninth rank. In the Second Dimension and above, beast ranks range from the eleventh rank to the first."
"When a beast reaches the second rank—the Primitive Level—the Will of the Dimension begins expelling it just as it does cultivators, forcing it to ascend into a higher dimension. That applies to the Second Dimension. In the First Dimension, expulsion begins at the third rank."
"Also, in the Second Dimension and above, every beast rank contains internal levels of its own."
"In fact, many cultivators do not even recognize the First Dimension as a complete dimension. They consider it incomplete, or primitive in essence."
"I will explain it more simply."
"The First Dimension has only nine ranks, ranging from ninth to first, and expulsion begins at the third rank. In the Second Dimension and above, the ranks range from eleventh to first."
"The ninth rank of the First Dimension corresponds to the eleventh rank of the Second Dimension, or perhaps even lower. A tenth-rank beast from the Second Dimension is stronger than a first-rank beast from the First Dimension because of qualitative superiority."
"More importantly, when a beast ascends into a higher dimension, its ranking drops by four ranks or more depending on its level of evolution."
"For example, if a second-rank beast from the Second Dimension is expelled into the Third Dimension, its rank will fall back by four levels."
"Its actual power has not decreased. It simply ranks lower under the new scale."
Lin Yuan fell silent.
Ikalat continued:
"Ordinary beasts are widespread everywhere according to their respective dimensions, but unique beasts are considered rare."
"For example, Heavenly Spirits reside in the Tenth Dimension, while the strongest among them can be found in the Eleventh Dimension, such as those within the Phoenix Nest, the Floating Dragon Island, the Heavenly Kunpeng Palace, and others."
"As for Dao Beasts, their total number can practically be counted on one's fingers."
"Primordial Chaos Beasts, as their name suggests, live within the Primordial Chaos, and some of them are even kept as pets by the Chaos Clan."
"If not for this void tunnel, those 'pets' could kill all of us with a single Screaming Roar of Chaos—their weakest natural attack."
Ikalat tried to continue explaining, but the void passage suddenly turned black.
A gateway opened and transported them into the shrine.
The shrine had dark-gray floors and walls that leaned toward black, with faint light emanating from their surfaces.
A staircase rose upward ahead.
At the sides stood many people of different appearances.
Some belonged to the Nightkin, though most were human.
Everyone immediately turned toward Scarlet King's group.
Several of them began speaking.
"Wait, the strongest among them is only at the ninth level of Path Initiation? And one of them is asleep? Pfft, insects from the First Dimension!"
"But wait… is that not a Chaos Being? What is he doing here?"
Another person, a red-haired young man with an arrogant appearance, answered:
"Does not matter. Let us eliminate them."
He rushed forward to attack.
But a green barrier suddenly appeared around Scarlet King's group.
A gateway opened, and a strange woman emerged from it.
She had short blue hair, blue clothing, and a Yin-Yang symbol on her chest.
One of the men immediately exclaimed:
"A Spiritual Puppet?"
The man thought nervously:
(Puppets are divided into ranks: Primitive Puppet, Advanced Puppet, Transcendent Puppet, Cloud Puppet, Spiritual Puppet, Existential Puppet, and Eternal Puppet. Each rank also possesses internal levels of its own.)
The puppet suddenly spoke.
"Welcome. I am Hui Wa, the servant puppet of the master of the Immortal Shrine, Xian Ling Hui."
"We are currently within the trials of the Immortal Shrine. The first of the three trials is to endure the pressure while ascending the Abyssal Black Staircase."
The moment Ikalat heard the name, he recognized the owner of the shrine.
(Xian Ling Hui? He is one of the most famous Immortals of the Eighth Dimension, known for his intelligence, wisdom, and extraordinary kindness. I heard that he created a shrine, but I never expected it to be this one.)
Suddenly, a beam of energy shot from one of the walls toward Scarlet King at tremendous speed.
It erased half of his body, exposing his skeleton.
Scarlet King's eyes opened.
He immediately regenerated within seconds by drawing upon the vitality of his internal universe.
"Well… is this the Immortal Shrine?"
This time, four beams emerged and burned Scarlet King's entire body away.
Once again, he regenerated.
Hui Wa spoke.
"It seems you are wearing clothing that enhances your power. Such items are forbidden within the shrine. I hope you will change your clothes so that we may continue the trial."
Scarlet King sighed.
Mist appeared around him, and his form changed into the young Gu Yue.
His hair was black and white, his eyes white and black, his face ordinary, and his height incredibly short—
only eighty-seven centimeters.
The red-haired young man immediately burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! You really are insects! You even brought a child with you? Hahaha!"
However, everyone quickly noticed something strange.
Although Scarlet King possessed the lowest cultivation level among them, the speed at which he had advanced through cultivation levels was absurdly fast.
How could a child reach a level that normally took others decades or even centuries to attain?
Hui Wa began explaining the first trial.
"The pressure of the first trial will vary between competitors so that the competition remains fair."
"You must ascend the staircase as far as possible."
"Only the first eleven competitors to succeed will advance. Everyone else will be returned to their respective dimensions and to the location from which they entered the shrine."
"There are currently twenty-two participants."
"The trial begins now."
Everyone was suddenly transported in front of the staircase.
The staircase was divided into two separate stairways running along the walls.
Both rose upward, turned at the upper wall toward the opposite side, then continued upward in the same pattern until reaching the end.
Scarlet King stood at the front of the first group beside the left staircase and began climbing.
The instant his foot touched the first step, he felt tremendous pressure.
He nearly collapsed onto the stairs, but resisted.
He climbed several more steps with extreme difficulty and thought:
(Damn it. This pressure is overwhelming… but not enough to make me retreat. I have faced far worse.)
The pressure weighing upon Scarlet King was equivalent to a full one hundred thousand tons.
And he was enduring it using nothing but his raw physical strength.
He continued climbing one step at a time, while those behind him ascended at roughly the same pace.
Hui Wa began announcing the amount of weight each participant was enduring.
"Blue-haired participant, Dao Principle Realm—you are enduring eighty-five thousand tons."
"Red-haired participant, Master of Paths Realm—you are enduring sixty thousand tons."
She continued listing them.
Most were enduring between forty and eighty thousand tons.
Then she noticed Scarlet King.
"Oh. Black-and-white-haired participant, Qi Condensation Realm—you are enduring one hundred and twenty-two thousand tons. That is truly impressive."
Hui Wa thought:
(This trial is based on willpower. The stronger a person's will, the greater the pressure placed upon them, because stronger will can no longer be refined by the same pressure as before.)
(It is like metal. The more you hammer it, the more refined its form becomes, but one incorrect strike can destroy the metal entirely.)
(That is why this trial depends on both personal strength and willpower.)
(But they can also develop themselves while climbing the staircase.)
(If they thought even slightly about improving themselves through the logic of cultivation rather than treating this solely as a competition, they would understand.)
Scarlet King continued climbing.
He was currently third on his staircase, while the competitors on the opposite side had reached roughly the same number of steps.
He suddenly thought:
(Wait… We are inside the Primordial Chaos, not within the Dimensions. The laws of the Primordial Chaos are overwhelmingly powerful, but very few in number.)
(In that case… I can cultivate Ti Yuan. That will improve my physical strength whenever I activate Ti Yuan Energy alongside Qi.)
There existed an energy capable of overwhelmingly increasing physical strength.
It was the fundamental energy used to develop the body through the fastest and most powerful method.
It was known as Ti Yuan Energy.
Its purpose was to support the body.
Body cultivators possessed overwhelmingly powerful physiques, and their primary strength relied on absorbing Qi and converting it into Ti Yuan Energy.
They could also train through methods that directly strengthened the body, which produced Ti Yuan Energy more effectively than merely absorbing Qi, though doing so was far more difficult.
Ti Yuan Energy possessed no ranks or cultivation realms of its own because it was simply an energy used to support the body.
However, there was still a distinction in its quality.
Ti Yuan Energy followed the same evolutionary developments as Qi.
There was also another energy known as Ling Li, which specialized in the soul.
It was entirely normal for someone to have not yet reached the cultivation realm where their Qi transformed into Path Qi, Sacred Qi, or another higher form of Qi, while their Ti Yuan Energy, Ling Li Energy, or even both had already evolved beyond their current Qi.
This was because Ti Yuan and Ling Li improved through practice.
Qi, in contrast, could be trained continuously, but it would still require reaching a specific cultivation realm before transforming into a superior form of Qi.
Ti Yuan Energy and Ling Li Energy did not follow that system.
Instead, they followed a nominal evolutionary system rather than the complete evolutionary system, developing automatically according to training.
What had prevented Scarlet King from cultivating either of them before was that the laws of the First Dimension prohibited the use of both energies, allowing only Qi.
These energies could only properly exist in the Second Dimension or above.
Scarlet King mentally contacted Liu Zai Hang, Lin Yuan, and Ikalat.
(Develop your Ti Yuan Energy. This pressure will help us.)
(Do not overthink it. Just resist the pressure with greater force. Even though the staircase system will increase the weight in response, that will make your Ti Yuan Energy condense faster.)
Hui Wa noticed what Scarlet King was doing and smiled faintly.
(This child is smarter than the others. He noticed the trick hidden within the staircase.)
(This is not merely a test of willpower or physical strength.)
(It is also a test of adaptation and evolution.)
As Scarlet King continued climbing, he began thinking about how to develop the Primordial World inside him.
(There are two methods for developing an internal world. I can either allow it to evolve by itself, or inject different laws and energies into it so that it matures faster and becomes ready to form an internal Heavenly cultivation system.)
(If I inject Ti Yuan Energy, Qi Energy, the energy of the Rebirth Path, Perseverance, and Benefit into it, the world will mature faster.)
(And the more Paths I learn, or the more laws I begin studying, the faster my internal world will evolve.)
(Right now, I am forming Ti Yuan Energy and injecting it directly into the internal world, where thunder has already begun forming.)
(But if I inject one particular law in greater quantities than the others, that law will become dominant and disrupt the balance.)
(There is nothing wrong with some laws being stronger than others, but balance must still exist so that no single law tyrannizes all the rest.)
Inside the completely empty internal world, several small and weak bolts of lightning began to form.
These were the first things to emerge.
They belonged to the Laws of Consequence—
the laws governing the punishment of Heaven and Dao, consisting of two hundred and twenty-two Consequence Laws.
The Thunder Consequence Law was one of the oldest Consequence Laws and was considered among the strongest Lesser Laws because it represented Heavenly Law—
or, in other words, Dao Law.
Unlike ordinary laws, Consequence Laws did not require cultivation before they could be injected into an internal world.
Other laws did.
Even if someone understood an ordinary law, they still had to cultivate it first.
And although there was a Death Consequence Law as well as an ordinary Law of Death, there was a clear distinction between the two.
The ordinary Law of Death represented the supreme death of all things.
The Death Consequence Law, however, concerned the moment when the Heavens punished someone for exceeding the level of power permitted beneath Heaven.
Whenever someone surpassed Path Initiation, the Heavens sent down a Heavenly Tribulation to punish the cultivator for attempting to challenge Heaven.
Cultivators, however, had managed to extract benefits from these consequences.
Others simply lost their lives.
That was why Consequence Laws were mandatory within an internal world.
They were necessary for the internal Heavens to form and for cultivators born inside that world to grow within the same environment as cultivators outside it.
If they never experienced any consequences inside the internal world, then the moment they left it, the Heavens would send every consequence they had previously bypassed at once in the form of one enormous and overwhelming punishment.
Consequence Laws could be injected according to how deeply a person understood them.
And Scarlet King was the perfect person for this task.
During one of his lives, he had spent the entire lifetime studying the Laws of Heavenly Consequence, gaining an overwhelming understanding of them.
That was why the first thing he injected was the Heavenly Thunder Consequence Law—
the oldest, simplest, and most commonly used Consequence Law of the Heavens.
It was therefore the best choice for his internal world.
The internal world might collapse if an enormous number of laws were injected into it all at once.
It was like possessing a balloon capable of expanding endlessly, yet pumping something into it faster than the balloon itself could expand.
Eventually, it would burst.
However, there was one important limitation.
Scarlet King could not inject the ordinary Law of Death.
He could only inject the Death Consequence Law or another Consequence Law.
As for normal laws, he would be unable to inject them until he had personally cultivated them.
That was where the Law Creator Cultivation System came in.
It was a system responsible for learning, refining, and using laws.
It was similar to the Dao Paths, but specialized specifically in laws.
At that moment, Scarlet King entered a state of complete enlightenment after realizing something important that he had forgotten.
They were all like the internal world.
Every being began knowing nothing.
As they matured, their knowledge and power increased, and they gradually learned about the Heavenly Path.
Scarlet King's awareness of his surroundings disappeared.
He entered an unconscious state while his body continued moving smoothly and climbing the staircase.
Inside his internal world, Scarlet King's body floated beneath the thunderclouds.
The lightning automatically avoided its master.
Scarlet King immediately began injecting his complete understanding of the Consequence Laws.
The thunder intensified.
Clouds began forming.
Rain started to fall.
And with it appeared the first type of law:
Heavenly Law.
It was the master of all laws within the internal worlds of cultivators.
Heavenly Law would automatically become the fundamental law of the universe, while the Consequence Laws would exist beneath it, because Heavenly Law represented the Heavenly System—
which in turn represented cultivation.
Rain continued falling, forming an extremely small lake along the lower edge of the tiny universe, as though someone had taken a spherical container and slowly begun filling it.
Scarlet King thought:
(If only I could cultivate the Primordial Chaos Manual, which would allow me to cultivate Primordial Chaos Energy, this world could mature much faster and far more effectively.)
(It would then rely on the same energy from which the Dimensions themselves evolve instead of Qi and ordinary energy.)
(Perhaps I will find a solution at the end of the trial.)