I, awoke once more—
Consciousness struggled upwards from an abyssal darkness without bottom.
The process was one of utter despair, powerlessness, a clinging, suffocating viscosity… and hunger!
Suddenly, a sharp, wrenching spasm violently yanked my awareness back from the brink of the void!
I was being dragged along, handled like livestock, shuffled forward roughly.
My bones felt haphazardly assembled, popping and grinding with the movement.
"The River Deity demands a young maiden and youth this year!"
A spray of foul-smelling spittle hit my face.
"Your parents died early. Now the village is in peril, it's your time to repay! Consider this your blessing!"
Before I could even begin to sort through this chaos—
Children's rhymes chanted in my ears,
and fingers poked and prodded my face at will.
The lyrics seemed to mock the original owner of this body's origins and disabilities...
I was shoved heavily to my knees before a crude altar.
Then, the blind elder priest
took a bead, soaked in murky river water and glowing with a sinister blue light,
and pressed it hard against my chest—
"An offering to the River Deity. Go now!"
The moment the bead touched my skin!
—A rending, explosive pain erupted in my palm!
My previously blurred vision was replaced by a gaze of crystalline clarity.
I subtly tilted my palm, the movement visible only to me…
On my right palm,
the flesh split open vertically without a sound!
No blood, no wound,
only a fissure.
Within the fissure,
a vertical eye, covered in dark golden, squirming sigils,
was coldly "staring" into my own eyes.
Sharing my vision—
No time to ponder.
The weak aquatic demonic energy within the bead pressed to my chest
was already trying to worm its way into my heart meridian like an icy thread.
The next moment!
The sigils in the vertical eye blazed with intense heat and light!
It wasn't me absorbing—it was, greedily, madly devouring!
Pfft!
The blue bead instantly dimmed, cracked, and crumbled to dust.
The last trace of demonic power was forcibly drained, transforming into a cool, clear stream that rushed into my parched meridians.
The vertical eye throbbed, contracted,
like a demon within the abyss battering against its seal,
urging, struggling, consuming—
The euphoric sensation of my blocked limbs and channels suddenly clearing
made me gasp out an involuntary "Ah—".
My two normal eyes on my head, pupils constricted, trembled slightly.
My body convulsed uncontrollably,
as if recovering from a severe illness,
both exhausted and weightless, both sated and craving.
I could barely suppress the demonic nature of my origin—
My head remained bowed,
hidden by disheveled black hair.
Unseen by all,
the corners of my mouth
slowly curved into a smile utterly unbefitting this frail youth—
a smile belonging to the Demon Lord of the Abyss—
cold and ravenous.
A thirst for blood, a thrilling stimulation, exploded from my palm.
It guided my gaze—
The faint auras of life from the villagers, the children,
the vague demonic power shimmering on the turbid river surface…
I clearly heard the restless churning of the great river,
the constant, surging roar of "Hua-hua— Hua-hua—".
The gathered villagers
paid no mind to a dead man walking.
Seeing the bead destroyed, they panicked, chaos erupting.
The village chief and the blind priest, faces dark, clenched their gnarled hands, bowing and kowtowing frantically.
Others could run,
they could not!
They had a contract with the "River Deity"!
They had gained power, food, control over life and death in the village…
There was no escape.
Boom— Hua-la!!
A massive spray of water erupted at the river's center,
soaring into the air,
falling like rain,
cool droplets landing on my face, lips, the corners of my eyes.
The sound of fleeing footsteps and screams intertwined with spreading panic.
The chief and old priest, veterans of countless sacrifices,
finally prostrated themselves in terror.
THUD!!! A claw the size of a cartwheel
slammed down right between the two kneeling men, splitting the earth,
the impact making my eardrums ring.
"'River Deity'… please calm your wrath…"
The chief and priest's pleas, kowtows, and sobs tangled in my ears.
"The sacrifice has failed. None in your village shall live!"
A foul, bloody wind swept past. Two arcs of warm blood splashed across my face, flowing over my lips…
The "aura of life" from the chief and priest,
like two weak flames flickering on desperate candle wicks,
lingered, unwilling to disperse.
The vertical eye greedily caught these two wisps in the air and consumed them.
That moment of contact was sweet to me.
The injuries and weaknesses of my body gradually healed, bursting forth with the exhilarating feeling of being reborn in blood.
Unconsciously, my whole body went limp, my head lolling back.
It was then I saw the true face of the "River Deity"—
Its body was jet black, with split lips,
protruding sharp fangs, red eyes, short ears.
A leopard's head and torso, partially armored,
a long, multicolored tail,
exuding the earthy stench and ferocity unique to mountain wildlings.
This was no River Deity…
It kicked aside the two corpses at its feet, its crimson gaze suddenly fixing on me.
"You…" The mountain ogre leaned down, its cold, breath washing over my face. "You have the aura of my demon bead inside you?"
I clutched my right hand tightly, cautiously confirming once more that no one else was around.
The mountain ogre looked down at me,
the corners of its mouth stretching,
revealing rows of vicious fangs.
The next second,
a sound of tearing air ceased,
as three-clawed fingers pierced my emaciated torso.
"Pathetic mortal."
I looked up, coughing blood, and let out a contemptuous, low chuckle:
"Are you sure… I'm just a mortal?"
My arm fell limp, my clenched right palm opening.
"Before me, even gods must die!"
In that instant—
The vertical eye erupted with a dazzling light!
Several talismanic curses, swift as lightning, shot unerringly into the ogre's mouth, nostrils, esophagus, chest, and abdomen,
rendering it unable to make a sound!
It frantically tore at a few of them,
but these curses were formless—
even when ripped apart, they automatically reconnected, coalesced.
This was a plunder beyond brute force, beyond mere bloodsucking—
Its demonic power, vital essence, even the soul-source hidden deep within its demon core,
were all ripped away like floodwaters breaching a dam, siphoned off by those tentacular bindings!
Its legs gave way,
its hands still feebly, repeatedly clawing at the cursed tendrils.
Its massive frame convulsed as if electrocuted,
its crimson pupils shrinking to pinpoints,
devoured by abyssal fear.
Gradually, it moved no more…
Inside the mountain ogre's body,
the tendrils continued their feast on its flesh, blood, and essence,
undulating and swallowing as if a human throat…
The terrifying suction force locked directly onto the source of its demonic soul.
The ogre couldn't scream, couldn't escape,
its entire body on the drying riverbed convulsing and twisting one last, more violent time…
Rocks, sand, spray flew about,
its colorful pelt instantly lost its luster,
its crimson eyes rapidly dimmed.
Thud.
The completely desiccated corpse of the mountain ogre collapsed to the ground.
As the wind blew, it scattered into dust.
[Mortal Shell Damage Repaired. Realm Elevated: Mortal Tier 1. Skill Point +1]
Standing slowly on the wide riverbank, I savored the lingering sensation—
The chattering of their teeth,
the thunderous beating of hearts within constricting chests.
Weak souls trembling in fear, seething in hatred, begging in supplication—
Ah— so familiar,
so nostalgic— such a sweet feeling!
[Demonic Energy Assimilation Initiated. Required Time: Fifteen Minutes. Random Side Effects Activated—]
The explosively increased demonic energy within my meridians
began rebelling against this frail mortal vessel.
Dizziness, nausea, agonizing pain… But what arrived even before the pain was—
Shing!
A sword aura, clear and resonant like a dragon's cry, descended from the Ninth Heaven.
In the distant sky, upon the sword light, stood a graceful, silhouette, sleeves and robes fluttering. She seemed to have sensed something.
The sword light paused mid-air for a fraction.
In my dazed state, I saw that white-clad figure soaring towards me on her sword, from afar to near…