(Book 1 Complete) To Devour the Crawling Gods [Eldritch Xianxia Progression]

20 years ago…

In a village of little importance…

"And why would you do this for me? I mean no disrespect, honoured fairy, but from the details you gave me regarding this… experiment, I cannot possibly afford your skills, nor the foreign material you seek to implant in my body."

"One could argue you already paid for the surgery and the gene-spliced organoids with this coin."

"That is hardly fair compensation if what you claim to offer is true. There are men, perhaps even cultivators, who would kill for such a boon. I have nothing left to give."

"Whether it would be a boon to you remains yet to be seen. The procedure is not without risk. My Master once mentioned her patients had a three in four fatality rate for this particular enhancement, and those that survive the surgery might not emerge with their minds intact."

"... But if I survive, will I be stronger?"

"Among other benefits, yes. If we are to speak in matters of cultivation, the operation should bolster you instantly to the Foundation Realm, and then accelerate your spiritual advancement from there."

"And what of my Senior brother, Jun? Could you—"

"I can only give you one genoid gland, and no more. Even I'm not that generous."

"... I understand."

"Do you? I must warn once again: this will be quite painful."

"I see no other way forward. This lowly one puts his life in your care, honoured fairy. If I survive, my debt can never be repaid, and any favour you might ask of me in the future shall be done. If I die… I can only hope my corpse could be of some use to you."

"Well now. Put it that way, I don't see how I can lose, Dai."

~~~

He did not die that day, though there were many times he wished he had in the following weeks after Doctor Yu left.

After the operation, the Fairy had brought his unconscious form to an isolated cave some distance from the village, such that his 'metamorphosis' might not be disturbed. She had placed strange incense censers around the hovel as well. Their scent had warded off the Spirit Beast drawn to his screams — yet more proof of her otherworldly nature.

The pain and terror had been indescribable. Even years later, after he joined the Beheaded Phoenix Sect and crawled his way into the ranks of a Disciple, no horror upon his body had ever come close to the madness he experienced in those few weeks.

His bones had stretched. His muscles grew until his skin burst. Twice his eyes had popped from his head — having enlarged beyond the confines of his optical cavity — only for superior, budding replacements to mature almost instantly.

Worse was the sensation of what was happening within him. Some days, it felt as if his insides were heated and melted into a sludge, only for the pulsating foreign gland within to use the slurry as a living medium to birth new organs — squirming, festering, thriving things — that breathed new life into his half-dead carcass.

Transhumanism, the fairy had called it. Doctor Yu claimed her people had no cultivators where she was from — an absurd notion, yet one he had a hard time discounting after the dread he had experienced.

Rather than practitioners of the Spiritual Arts, the alchemists of their lands — their 'Chirurgeons'; yet another foreign term — used special sciences to create their own breed of Immortals. She claimed her people slew star creatures born out of Man's worst nightmares, harvested their corpses for 'genetic matter and alien compounds', and then transplanted them into the bodies of their soldiers.

Based on her explanation, the concept seemed little different from the Path of Hunger granted by His Imperial Majesty. And it was why Dai had not been too hesitant in accepting her offer.

Though her words were confusing and often utterly unfamiliar, he understood what she was proposing to give him; to stuff within his body.

Divine Viands.

Perhaps she did not understand their value in these lands. Or perhaps such holy substances were more common where she was from. Either way, Dai would be a fool to refuse.

He had expected his Spiritual Awakening to be a blissful experience. All the tales he heard of cultivators ascending had always been filled with descriptions of rapturous ecstasy.

By the time those three weeks of suffering ended, he emerged within the Eighth Step of the Foundation Realm — an impossibly fortuitous occurrence, for Dai had been a mere lowly worm just before the procedure. Within mere weeks, he had emerged stronger than any of his peers; stolen a glimpse of Immortality with barely an ounce of effort.

Anyone he knew would be beside themselves with pride. Anyone would be thanking the fates for their fortune in joyous tears.

Dai could only stare at the cave ceiling, covered head to toe in the foul excretion that was expelled during the process of his spiritual advancement. His mind was numbed, his face stained with tears of blood that ran black with impurities.

What was it all for?

He was not happy, nor was he proud.

He merely existed.

~~~

2 years later…

"I can't believe we are finally here…"

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

In contrast to Jun's awe, Dai simply grunted as the pair were shuffled through the entrance gate of the Beheaded Phoenix Sect by a set of Outer Disciples.

"Don't get too excited yet," he said, broad arms stretching to shake off their lethargy. "We are not admitted into the Sect yet. They have simply deemed us worthy of taking the entrance exam."

Behind them stretched a line of hopeful applicants, extending to hundreds of individuals long. It was a rather sorry lot, for the majority of them were peasant boys and villagers, here to supplicate before the Sect.

Some of them bore crude weapons and armour, others nothing but the ragged clothes on their person. Some were too old, others too young. No matter their origin, they shared two things in common:

One, they were all men. Two, they all carried the faint, desperate hope of being inducted into the Beheaded Phoenix Sect as an Outer Disciple.

Most of them would not even be allowed to pass the first gate so that they might take the entrance exam.

Jun snorted as he shook his head. "Junior, you are far too pessimistic. Just being allowed into the entrance exam by those Disciples marks us as a cut above the rabble. Not even the stronger members of the Black Ash Gang had ever—"

"Don't!" Dai hissed. "Don't mention the Gang. Not here."

Jun winced. He nodded apologetically. "Yeah, you're right. That was stupid of me."

"It is a poor Senior who requires their Junior to remind them of careless words," Dai whispered harshly. "There is no need to mention our sordid past ever again. They no longer matter. We saw to that."

The Black Ash Gang was no more. Jun and Dai were no longer their slaves.

Blood. Guts. Screams. And the taste of those vile human scums, their flesh stuck to their teeth. Dai remembered well.

As did Jun, it seemed. The older teen swallowed nervously. "Yes… You are right, of course. Only… There's no need for you to call me Senior any more, you know?"

"You were just calling me Junior earlier," Dai responded bluntly. "And besides, I do not mind. You are older than I. To call you 'Senior' is basic courtesy."

Jun snorted. "We both know that is not the distinction that matters. Not any more."

The older teen flexed his qi. Foundation Realm, Fourth Step. It was not a bad level for a youth his age, especially given his impoverished origins as one born outside a Sect in an Outer Province. Indeed, to be able to cultivate at all was to be blessed beyond belief, for even if one was confined to the desolate villages of the Outer Province, his fortunes were still greater than the millions of unawakened masses around him.

Weak as Jun was in the grand scope of Cultivator society, there was some incipient potential to be harnessed. Otherwise, those disciples at the gate would not have even allowed him in to try for the Sect's entrance exam.

The same could not be said of Dai. In response to Jun's meditative cycling, the younger teen stirred his own qi.

Foundation Realm, Ninth Step.

It was utterly absurd for one born outside the Sect, doubly so given his undeniable youth: a boy yet to even grow stubble on his chin. The Outer Disciple guards had practically recoiled when they sensed his power, for his cultivation had triumphed even over theirs, despite being half their age.

"You took me in when I had no one else," Dai stated plainly. "A boy with no worth. You, a slave to those heartless men, begged for them to give me a place to serve within that… cesspool. You did not give me a home, but you gave me the means to survive. For that, I will always be grateful."

Jun smiled and shook his head. "Perhaps I merely wanted an underling of my own. I was getting tired of being kicked and bossed around all day."

And yet, Jun had helped him through those first painful years. Six-year-old Dai: sold by his parents to pay off their debts. The Black Ash Gang — may their name be forgotten to the pits of hell — bought him with the intent to auction him off at the Split-Headed Carnivore Sect's meat farms or the Decaying Greyroots Sect's seedbeds.

Instead, Jun — one of the few slaves attached to help perform the many menial chores within the gang — had convinced the Gang to keep him around as another helper. If not for him, Dai would have suffered a fate worse than death before expiring.

Now, years later, the gang was gone. Ripped apart by Dai's outrageous strength when he returned weeks after his sudden disappearance — not as a mortal worm, but as a cultivator whose standing was far beyond reason.

He slaughtered them all. Dai, who was not even ten summers old at the time, had mercilessly butchered all thirty adults of the Black Ash Gang — fourteen of whom had been cultivators — and ate them alive.

The boy never regretted it.

~~~

Yet another 2 years later…

"Do you regret it?"

Upon hearing Jun's words, Dai stopped drinking. He wiped his mouth and set aside his cup of spirit wine.

"Regret what?" Dai asked, belching loudly as he leaned back against his silk cushions. "We are here to celebrate your ascension into the Shaping Realm! Stop talking about stupid things and drink!"

The tavern they were in was one of some renown. It had the privilege of serving within the confines of the Sect's monastery, and thus the quality of their food and wine was rather good.

More importantly, the ingredients they used were of some actual spiritual sustenance. Aside from tasting much better, they also helped invigorate their qi and supplement their cultivation.

It had cost Dai an entire month's worth of Spirit Stones — earned from performing random menial assignments around the Sect — just to secure a private table and room, but it was well worth it.

That single room held more luxury than the total sum of comfort he had ever enjoyed in his life.

"Do you ever regret joining the Sect, I mean," Jun asked quietly. Unlike Dai, who had already sunk himself in the wine and meat, the newly ascended Inner Disciple's plates were untouched.

Dai stared at Jun for a few seconds, before throwing his head back and laughing loudly.

"Since when did you tell such good jokes, Jun!?" Dai's roars of amusement echoed off the walls. "The Senior I knew barely had enough wit to spin a lie, let alone say something so funny."

Jun grimaced. "I'm serious. We should leave the Sect. Leave this place."

Dai did not answer immediately. Instead, the large teen — still no more than one and a half decades old — picked up an entire jug of Spirit Wine and drank.

He did not stop until he drained the flask dry. When he set the flask down, his cheeks had taken on a drunken hue. Wine dribbled down his lips as he grinned widely.

"You are too serious, Brother Jun," Dai declared. "Perhaps some female company would ease that sour mood of yours? This room does come with serving girls. I'll ask the server for their catalogue. I hear they provide quite a varied collection."

Jun gritted his teeth. "I do not want a girl."

"Boys, then." Dai shrugged. "They have those too. Take one. Hell, take all of them! They are ours for the night! Maybe then, you'll be able to unwind that stick up your—"

"Dammit, Dai, I do not want a bed serf!" Jun yelled. "You know as well as I do that nearly none of them are here by choice! How could you even suggest that… After all that we have been through… After all the things we'd seen while we were in the gang!"

Silence reigned. The room had privacy seals, so no one could hear his outburst, but Jun still broke upon agreements long made: to never speak of their worthless past again.

The Black Ash Gang… The place where the pair served as slaves for years. Abused, starved, mocked. To live each day in pain, fear, and hunger…

Eventually, Dai sighed.

His qi flared, burning away the alcohol in his veins instantly. Sobriety returned, and Dai looked at Jun with unclouded eyes.

Did he regret? No.

Regret died on that day, when the hearts of thirty cannibalised corpses of the Black Ash Gang entered his maw.

Dai will never allow himself to be controlled again.