Way of the Devil

“Alright then. You can keep your secrets.” Lu Sheng asked no more.

 “You must keep that in mind. I have something else to attend to, and I shall leave you here. I’ve settled the matter with Xiang Hongfei for you,” Zhong Xiu added before he left.

 “Xiang Hongfei?” Lu Sheng immediately found the corresponding memory.

 His host was a person who loved to eat. Due to his gluttonous desires, he had sent for Xiang Zhuanyu’s daughter, Xiang Hongfei, who was deemed the greatest cook under the heavens. He practically snatched her away so that she could be his exclusive chef.

 Unfortunately, Xiang Hongfei herself was born a beauty and was an official disciple of one of the 16 clans. This incident had caused quite an uproar.

 Fortunately, the Green Dew Altar was extremely domineering. The Flying Goose Clan, which Xiang Hongfei belonged to and was also one of the weakest, could not hold a candle against it.

 Hence, when Zhong Xiu said that he had taken care of the matter, it meant that it was highly possible for the Flying Goose Clan to have abandoned Xiang Hongfei, and both sides had accepted a compromise.

 “This is quite a start…” Lu Sheng looked at Zhong Xiu’s receding back. He was slightly filled with emotion.

 He had barely Arrived here, and his father was one of the greatest elites under the heavens. He had wealth, power, and influence. He was not lacking in anything.

 When Lu Sheng thought about this, he could not help but feel slightly helpless.

 “I don’t feel motivated with such a starting point… I’ll have to plan ahead if I want to gather Mental Energy…”

 “Pa! Pa!”

 He clapped his hands softly together. At the same time, a beautiful green woman walked slowly toward him and stood still at a respectful distance.

 “Qing Yi pays her respect to the young master.”

 This was his own personal bodyguard. She was also one of the orphans Pang Sicheng had taken in to train four years ago without his father knowing.

 As the only son of a despotic overlord, Pang Sicheng merely lacked martial prowess. However, he did not lose to the other young masters in terms of his other qualities.

 With such great resources and conditions, he naturally knew that he should secretly train a force that belonged to him alone.

 “The person Big Brother Zhong Xiu mentioned, the man named Zhuang Xiesheng. Do you know about him?” Lu Sheng asked softly.

 “This is fairly recent, and I have only heard rumors. I haven’t verified their authenticity, and hence have yet to report it to you, Young Master,” said Qing Yi softly.

 “Tell me,” Lu Sheng said with a nod.

 When Qing Yi got the approval, she straightened up. Her beautiful face under the black veil grew solemn.

 “Recently, in the main altar, there have been some rumors circulating among the upper echelons. They’re saying that the reason for the altar master’s unbroken success streak throughout his campaign was due to a certain prediction he received from a monk called Mu Fo when he was young.”

 “Prediction?” Lu Sheng frowned. “What prediction?”

 “The prediction goes that the first half of the altar master’s life will be incomparably glorious, but during the second half of his lifetime, he will die in the hands of a man whose name bore the character ‘sheng’ while at his peak.”

 1“And they believe this?” Lu Sheng snorted.

 “Nobody believed it in the beginning. However, the predictions the altar master received from Mu Fo before this had all come true, so he has great faith in his predictions. The altar master has cultivated the martial path painstakingly for many years and went about conquering the other lands in search of this man with the character ‘sheng’ in his name,” said Qing Yi softly.

 “What does this have to do with Zhuang Xiesheng? Why is father convinced that he’s the man in the prediction?” Lu Sheng asked.

 “It’s because he’s strong,” Qing Yi began, “Among all the people whose name bore the character ‘sheng’, he was the strongest.”

 Lu Sheng instantly understood.

 

Qing Yi again spoke, “But there’s no need to worry, Young Master. Those under the heavens who can be mentioned in the same breath as the altar master’s name are but a handful. The vague Martial Monarchs aside, among the Martial Emperors, even the masters of the three great sects are only more powerful than the altar master to a limited extent. Nobody could tell who would win unless they actually fought.”

 Lu Sheng nodded. He instantly understood the identity and status of this father of his.

 Taking an analogy from the Jin Yong novels, he was equivalent to a Grandmaster under the Heavens in the standard Hua Shan Tournament. In the entire martial world, there were only less than 10 of such grandmasters.

 “What about Zhuang Xiesheng?”

 “He’s a notable blade-wielding genius among the 14 clans. His teacher’s the God Fist Clan’s master, the Flying God Fist Huang Yu, who is also one of the few with powers greater than the altar master’s,” Qing Yi explained. “If that hadn’t been the case, the altar master wouldn’t have held back and let him be all this while.”

 “Alright, I understand now. You’re dismissed.” Lu Sheng nodded.

 Qing Yi bent her knee in salute. She retreated respectfully.

 Lu Sheng lay there for a while. He wanted to move, but could not muster enough strength. Even flipping himself over took him 10 minutes.

 ‘Looks like I’ll have to slim down as quickly as possible. This world’s power rank is too high, and the rules here are powerful. I can’t completely rely on my main body to regain my strength. I should improve this body’s strength as quickly as possible!’

 He was drenched in sweat when he finally managed to move his body.

 “Men!” he yelled.

 Two individuals in green combat attire swiftly appeared at the entrance to the courtyard.

 “You called, Young Master?”

 “Bring me my Fire Beacon Thunder Roll Sword!” Lu Sheng spoke in a clear voice.

 After he gave the order, one of the Green Dew Altar’s subordinates carried a heavy dull-looking pitch-black sword over. With the sword holder underneath, he placed it in the center of the courtyard.

 “Leave me,” Lu Sheng said.

 The Fire Beacon Thunder Roll Sword was a treasured sword Pang Sicheng used when he cultivated the martial path. This was a divine weapon his father Pang Yuanjun got for him. Carrying the sword alone would trigger the force within him to resist the killing intent and the heat from the sword. This way, he could cultivate.

 However, ever since he got the sword seven years ago, the number of times Pang Sicheng cultivated with this sword could be counted on one hand’s fingers. There was no other reason than that cultivating with this sword was not a pleasant experience…

 However, now that it was Lu Sheng, he did not lack determination.

 The Straggling Star Path Toad Method within his body was a top-tier Martial Emperor cultivation method. It was mild and gentle, and had the effect of prolonging his life. However, it was so overly balanced and mediocre that it was lacking in offensive skills. This had resulted in him losing to the Junyuan Skills back then.

 However, in terms of comprehensive quality, this cultivation method was based on the concept of the Blood Jade Toad, a divine creature, swallowing and spitting starlight. In the legends, the Blood Jade Toad was described as a creature being as long lived as the heavens and the earth.

 Hence, this was a health maintenance method in nature.

 ‘How nostalgic… I myself started out with a health maintenance method once,’ Lu Sheng exclaimed inwardly with emotion.

 3After observing the process of this method’s cultivation, Lu Sheng did not spot any flaws or mistakes. However, as a health maintenance method, the only shortcoming of this method was the slow rate of progress.

 However, that could be dealt with. A slow progress rate was never a problem to Lu Sheng.

 “Deep Blue.” He called up his modifier immediately.

 With a swoosh, the light blue modifier’s frame popped up. The lowest frame clearly displayed his current status.

 “Main cultivation method, Straggling Star Path Toad Method, stage-1. Longing for the Light, yet Reluctant to Part. Progress, 45%. (Special traits obtainable after completion. Prolonged Longevity, rank-1. Competence Explosion, rank-1).”

 With Lu Sheng’s careful modifications, the modifier’s current version was slightly changed as well. In the beginning, it was simple and crude, while now, it was more and more refined.

 “Interesting.” Lu Sheng was becoming interested. However, the highest-ranked cultivation method accessible to him at the moment was this Martial Emperor-ranked cultivation method. Even if it was a health maintenance method, he did not mind cultivating it.

 “Derive the Straggling Star Path Toad Method to stage-2.” He focused his haze on the frame below and pushed the button. At the same time, he gave the order in his mind. The moment he gave the order, a surge of Mental Energy swiftly flowed out of the modifier, coursing through his veins and meridians, spreading all over his body, nourishing the flesh and blood of his body.

 The modifier’s frame blurred. However, it regained clarity after a few breaths. The new contents were now displayed.

 

Lu Sheng felt as if the flabby flesh all over his body had been stuck onto a red-hot copper pole. He sweated profusely. His pores excreted fat alongside sweat. The fat and sweat merged together, forming large emulsified drops.

 He bore with the unpleasantness. Then, he gave the new frame another glance.

 “Main cultivation method. Straggling Star Path Toad Method, stage-2. Reluctant to Part with the Night. (Special traits. Prolonged Longevity, rank-1. Competence Explosion, rank-1).”

 Lu Sheng could clearly feel the force circulating constantly within his body. It was thickening and becoming more agile. Like electricity, it tingled as it circulated throughout his body.

 He raised an arm slowly. This action had been extremely taxing, but it felt easier now.

 ‘I think I must’ve lost some weight by the ranking up of my cultivation base. I feel stronger now, but my flesh is still flabby. At least I can move on my own now.’ With the force, Lu Sheng was finally capable of standing up from the chair on his own, without having to rely on others propping him up.

 “Young Master, be careful!” Two maidservants with strong build hurried over to him. They quickly supported Lu Sheng’s weight between them. They managed to remain standing, but their backs were still bent under Lu Sheng’s body weight.

 “I have decided. From this day on, I’m slimming down,” Lu Sheng said with a straight face.

 The two maidservants were taken aback. They made no reply.

 However, they were surprised to find their young master actually following through with his words.

 From that day on, Lu Sheng seemed like a different person every day. Some days, he even lost two to three catties a day.

 However, the mass he lost in the beginning was the fatty flesh. When he no longer had difficulty moving about, Lu Sheng left the courtyard and ordered the maidservants to leave him alone. His movements became elusive, and nobody knew what he was up to.

 This went on for more than 10 days. Eventually, Lu Sheng vanished from his protectors’ eyes. When someone noticed, he had already left the courtyard, and was already at the place where Pang Sicheng’s mother was reported to have appeared last, the Yuchen Palace.

 He intended to bring his mother back for now. He could gather Mental Energy anytime, but if he did not locate his mother as soon as possible, she might be caught in some accident.

 1***

 Flowers bloomed in the warmth of spring and birds fluttered in the trees.

 On the official road of the wilderness, a young fat man with a chubby head and big ears was swaying in his saddle as he rode a huge black horse.

 The horse was healthy, big, and tall. However, with the fat man on its back, it seemed as if it was on the verge of collapsing. It panted thrice with every step. Bean-sized drops of sweat traveled down the horse’s neck and onto its broad back.

 1There were other travelers on the official road as well. There were those riding horses, oxen, and mules. Each and every one of them overtook the fat man with ease.

 The occasional traveler would take interest in this pair of rider and steed. Some of them would joke about them in whispers. The fat man was not angered even though he heard them. He merely chuckled and looked toward the skies before slapping the horses behind and urging it on its way.

 As a Void Underworld expert, Lu Sheng was no longer as anxious and careful as he once had been. He felt more like taking a stroll through life right now.

 This was the third day since he left the Green Dew Altar’s branch, which was the place he lived in before. He easily traveled through the three provinces under the Green Dew Altar’s control and arrived at the neighboring Dong Huai Province.

 This was the place where Pang Sicheng’s mother was last sighted.

 The Yuchen Palace was here. It was the ruins of a once-famous Taoist Pagoda.

 Lu Sheng asked for directions along the way. His cultivation base kept improving as well. Within a few days, he had ranked-up the Straggling Star Path Toad Method to stage-5.

 There were only seven stages to this cultivation method. Stage-5 was already equivalent to the person his father, Pang Yuanjun, defeated all those years ago.

 He managed to reach stage-5, but he needed to improve his strength slowly. He had to let his body adapt to the rapid modifications by Mental Energy.

 Currently, Lu Sheng had the strength of 10 oxen. With the passage of time, his cultivation method’s tier would gradually improve his body’s strength.

 This was one of the special attributes of this world. The martial path cultivation methods here were merely a training method. Even though the practitioner managed to attain a higher tier, he would still have to train his body over a period of time to obtain greater force.

 However, higher-tiered cultivation methods could expedite the increase in strength.

 Fortunately, Lu Sheng was in no hurry as well. Throughout these few days, he did his research with the help of his psychological guidance art. He seemed to have unearthed more mysteries surrounding the disappearance of Pang Sicheng’s mother, Tang Qingqing.

 Tang Qingqing’s disappearance seemed to be tied to Pang Yuanjun. It seemed that Pang Yuanjun was hiding some secrets of his own.

 According to the results of his investigation, Tang Qingqing had loved Pang Yuanjun very much. She would not have left of her own accord, like what Pang Yuanjun said.