Crap!
This voluntary sacrificial offering involved her blood, organs, and also her soul. This… Was this not exactly like telling her to die?!
No way!
She couldn't die!
Just as expected, the Great Demon King was nothing more than a great big liar!
However, at that moment, Lu Jiu Que was like a hunk of meat on the Great Demon King's cutting board. How could she possibly escape?
From the moment she voiced her willingness and when he smeared the print of a blood sacrifice in between her brows, there was no turning back for her.
The Great Demon King's eyes, with their silver pupils, curved as he smiled at her. A silver flame that could burn her soul suddenly rose from beneath Lu Jiu Que's feet. It glowed with the purest and cleanest gleam, able to devour her instantly.
That flame penetrated her skin, arteries and veins, bones, internal organs, and diaphragm… It calcined and refined her from the inside out, as though she was metal being melted.
Dirt and impurities in her body were exposed to the heat and eventually dissipated as they turned into dust.
The ancient incantation continued as it floated around her like nature's indulgent music. Bit by bit, it was engraved into her soul.
"…All calamities and hardships, desperation and fear, suffering and destruction, killing and shouting… I will crush the earth, break through the void, kill all life, descend to stand by your side, and wipe out all evil barriers for you! A pious person with two souls, my eternally faithful volunteer…"
…
Lu Jiu Que was already numb to the pain, and she also didn't know how much time had passed until finally, the silver flames intertwined, steamed violently, and transformed into a silver bead that settled and lodged itself within her diaphragm. It was only then that she sluggishly began to regain her senses.
The Great Demon King's lips curled up into a smile. Any display of fireworks wouldn't be able to match the gorgeous smile beneath his eyes. "A mark of Cinnabar between your brows. Not bad, little servant."
She was speechless. This fellow looked like he was only twelve or thirteen years of age. How could he be calling her his "little" servant?
The Great Demon King patted her head like he would his pet, then he thrust a tattered and torn book into her arms. With a smile, he said, "Little servant, starting from today, you have to practice hard. This technique is for you. If your cultivation's rate of improvement isn't as fast as the silver dragon's rate of growth, you will be devoured by it. Also, remember to feed it with sacrificial offerings. If not, you will also be devoured. You're a rare type of servant with two souls, so please don't die so easily."
"Huh?"
Without waiting for Lu Jiu Que to react, the Great Demon King grabbed her by the arm, lifted her entire being, and tossed her.
The world around her was spinning. Lu Jiu Que felt a pain in her bottom as she made a steady landing like a seagull descending on a beach.
"…"
Humiliation!
Great, terrible humiliation!
From the day she was old enough to make sense of the things happening around her, the humiliation that she suffered that day was easily the worst, and it couldn't be washed away even if she used all the water in the country.
She had banished all notions of danger and the like from her mind. 'Great Demon King, we will fight until death parts us!'
Firmly gritting her teeth, Lu Jiu Que looked at her blackened body and leaped to her feet. She was going to find a place to give herself a good scrub and rid herself of all her bad luck.
The thing was, Lu Jiu Que had barely taken a step or two before she simply froze in place.
Wait a minute. Were the wounds on her body all healed? Even her fractured bones had healed?
This…
Touching her entire body from head to toe, Lu Jiu Que confirmed that all her internal injuries and traumas, including major and minor injuries, had recovered. Every inch of her being found this somewhat baffling.
Was it because of that silver flame?
Suddenly, Lu Jiu Que heard the rapid hissing sounds of demonic beasts.
Vigilant, she looked over immediately and found herself peering into a lush forest. There was no sign of demonic beasts, so where had these hissing sounds come from?
"Howl, howl, howl—"
The whistling sound of the wind was gradually getting louder. An extremely small black dot in the distance was causing a stir among the layers of clouds, crashing its way over from the intersection point where heaven and Earth met. The strange thing was that Lu Jiu Que could actually see the thing very clearly!