Chapter 282: The Mastermind Appears
In the endless chaotic void, the Heavenly Demon Superior sat cross-legged within a distorted spacetime rift, dark red demonic energy coiling around his body.
This former great power of the Joy Union Sect, who once dominated the upper realm, suddenly opened his eyes, a flicker of doubt in his scarlet pupils.
"Hmm?"
He was once the Great Elder of the Joy Union Sect in the upper realm, his cultivation having reached the peak of the Saint Realm, only a single step away from the legendary Immortal Venerable Realm.
His talent was extraordinary; he had integrated the Joy Union Sect's charm arts with demonic evil methods, creating his own "Myriad Desires Heavenly Demon Art."
With just one more step, he could unify the various demonic factions and become the supreme ruler of all demons.
However, it was precisely this ambition that brought about his demise.
On that day, he was in closed-door cultivation, attempting to break through to the Immortal Venerable Realm, when his most trusted disciple poisoned his tea with "Nine Nether Soul-Shattering Powder"—this poison was colorless and tasteless, specifically corroding a cultivator's soul. Even a Saint Realm great power could hardly escape death.
It turned out that the other forces of the demonic path had long since secretly united, vowing to kill him before he could break through.
When the poison took effect, the Heavenly Demon Superior bled from all seven orifices, and the meridians throughout his body were severed.
But he was, after all, a half-step Immortal Venerable powerhouse. Before his death, he managed to glimpse a sliver of the law of reincarnation.
At the cost of his life's cultivation, he sent a wisp of his remnant soul into a reincarnation rift, escaping to the lower realm.
This wisp of a remnant soul drifted in the void for a thousand years, its strength weakened to the extreme, until it met Shen Qingwu.
Seeing that this youth was lecherous, lustful, and wildly ambitious, the Heavenly Demon Superior immediately devised a plan.
He bestowed upon him the "Mysterious Heaven Curse Book" and a modified version of the "Charm Heart Great Method," and signed a contract with him.
At this moment, his withered fingers were calculating the lines of karma, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter.
Ever since he had given that "Mysterious Heaven Curse Book" and his self-created "Charm Heart Great Method" to the youth in the lower realm, he had been nurturing his damaged soul in this void.
That curse book was the Joy Union Sect's guardian immortal artifact, but its true appearance had been tampered with by him.
Furthermore, that set of cultivation methods, which fused the Buddhist "Mind-Reading Technique" with the Joy Union Sect's charm arts, contained a deadly trap.
The Heavenly Demon Superior laughed sinisterly, ferocious patterns appearing on his withered, leathery skin.
He would not be so kind as to gift someone an opportunity for free—that cultivation method had a fatal flaw: the female primordial yin obtained through deception with charm arts could only bring physical pleasure.
The true yuan produced from actual yin-yang union, however, would subtly transform the host's physique.
"Calculating the days, that youth's body should have been about seventy to eighty percent transformed by now..."
He licked his lips, his eyes flashing with a greedy light.
As a titan of the demonic path, while this was his first time playing the trick of body-snatching for rebirth, he was clearly already an old hand at it.
This time, the layout was even more meticulous: first, let Shen Qingwu have a taste of power, wantonly toying with female cultivators using charm arts.
Once his body was transformed into the most suitable "cauldron" for the Joy Union Sect's cultivation path, he would seize the opportunity to possess him when he was weak!
At this moment, in the chaotic void, the Heavenly Demon Superior's gaunt face suddenly twisted into an expression of wild ecstasy.
His wisp of a remnant soul trembled violently, his withered lips parting to reveal ghastly white teeth.
"Heaven helps me!"
At this very moment, he clearly perceived Shen Qingwu's soul was unprecedentedly weak—the crack in his spirit from his mental breakdown emitted an alluring fragrance, like a fully ripened fruit.
Although he was once a demonic titan at the peak of the Saint Realm, a half-step Immortal Venerable, after so many years of falling, his current soul strength was not even comparable to that of a Profound Connetion Realm cultivator. He originally did not have full confidence in the possession, but now...
"Now is the time!"
The Heavenly Demon Superior's remnant soul transformed into a streak of scarlet blood light, shooting straight down along the karma line.
As he passed through the layers of void barriers, he seemed to smell the long-lost scent of flesh and blood, so excited that his very soul was trembling.
How many years! Since his physical body was destroyed, he had wandered the void like a starving ghost, and now, finally...
Strangely, the expected resistance did not appear.
When he rushed into Shen Qingwu's Sea of Consciousness, the scene he saw made him freeze in place.
The soul that should have been desperately resisting was now curled up in a corner of the Sea of Consciousness, hugging its knees with both hands, its gaze vacant as it stared into the void, just like a broken puppet.
"Not even wanting his own physical body?"
The Heavenly Demon Superior was stunned for a moment, then let out a sharp laugh like a night owl.
His scarlet soul body greedily pounced on the completely defenseless body, and countless licentious thoughts surged within his soul body.
Over the years, he had conceived too many new tricks: the Joy Union Sect's "Nine Revolutions Reincarnation Art", the Charm Demon Sect's "Hundred Charms Thousand Allures Technique", and even evil arts that combined Buddhist Joyful Zen...
Doesn't even want his own body? Hmph, it seems one only knows how to cherish it after losing it.
"Don't want it? Then this seat will graciously accept!"
The Heavenly Demon Superior suddenly opened his eyes. Before the ecstasy of the successful possession had faded, he felt an unprecedented strangeness—especially in a certain unspeakable part, there was a feeling of being hollowed out, an empty void.
What's going on? Could it be that I was injured?
"Junior brother is awake?" Shi Gang was fastening his belt, with beads of sweat still hanging on his bronze chest. Seeing him wake up, he grinned: "Don't worry, we didn't waste anything while you were passed out just now."
"Not a single bit left." Shi Lie added, patting his bulging abdominal muscles, his eyes full of admiration. "No wonder junior brother dares to call himself the 'Giant Dragon Divine Spear'. This body looks delicate, but it's actually more durable than our Black Iron Gate's body-tempering cultivation method!"
What are you talking about? The Heavenly Demon Superior opened his mouth in confusion, but couldn't make a sound—the spiritual light of the silencing formation was still flickering on the cabin wall.
However, seeing the two men's kind attitude, the Heavenly Demon Superior judged that they must be figures like that kid's senior brothers.
He had no idea that Shen Qingwu had already endured everything for him. Had he completed the possession even half an hour earlier, he could have experienced a feeling that even he, as a big shot from the Joy Union Sect, might not have experienced.
He struggled to prop up his body, but this action became another kind of scenery in the eyes of Shi Gang and Shi Lie.
Beneath his disheveled collar, his collarbone, covered in red marks, was visible; his pale fingertips trembled slightly from the exertion; his bitten lips oozed beads of blood, and even the corners of his eyes were tinged with a broken, flushed red.
The most fatal part was those legs; though he clearly couldn't stand steady, their slender lines exuded a kind of desolate beauty after being ravaged.
Shi Gang and Shi Lie looked at the utterly broken "Shen Qingwu" before them, their Adam's apples subconsciously bobbing.
The sight of the pale skin exposed through his disheveled clothes, covered in red marks, and the way his slightly trembling fingertips grabbed the edge of the bed, trying to get up only to fall back down powerlessly, stirred another wave of restlessness in the two men's hearts.
But remembering the madness of the past two hours, the two men's consciences eventually got the better of them.
"Cough..." Shi Gang forcefully suppressed the surging evil thoughts and said in a rough voice: "Junior brother should rest well, after all... cough... you've been exhausted for two hours."
Just as the two were about to turn and leave, the Heavenly Demon Superior was so anxious that cold sweat seeped from his forehead.
This body was so weak that even lifting a finger was strenuous, let alone breaking this bizarre silencing formation.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him—That's right! The Charm Heart Great Method!
This cultivation method originally had the effect of "divine sense transmission" in the Joy Union Sect, specially for disciples to communicate in special situations.
He immediately circulated his remaining magical power and sent out a telepathic message: [May I ask the two senior brothers, where is this place?]
However, in the next moment—
(You two, are you trying to be deserters?!)
A full-throated roar suddenly exploded in Shi Gang and Shi Lie's minds
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