There was once four Immortal Demons that reigned among the Unorthodox, but they weren't only that.
Among them, the 'Blood Demon' was the furthest one could describe someone renowned as such.
A pitiful person indeed…
Original a devout Buddhist, the now infamous legend was once a normal man living in a temple.
It was a tragedy…
Buddhism tended to make one isolate themselves for better self-reflection and understanding of self.
Maybe because of that, the ordinary Buddhist couldn't fathom the rage he felt after going down the mountain to see a village in flames. Bandits had wrecked havoc on the surroundings and people.
It was then that the 'Blood Demon' was born.
He broke the Buddhist beliefs of no killing and massacred out of righteousness. Viciously so.
Rather than countering them, he went to fight the heart of all bandit strongholds… 'Green Forest'.
A bandit group so large it was considered as an Unorthodox Sect in its own right. A nest of thugs.
Animals who fed on the weak and helpless.
They took pride in that.
But the 'Blood Demon' also wasn't any hero to be admired. His killings became an addictive pleasure.
Creating the 'Immortal Blood Demon Sect' while throwing away his origins. All to continue killing.
He wanted to kill all bandits in the world… A dream that only vanished after a few generations passed.
Just look at his pathetic descendants now.
Without rest, they continued to fight hordes of bandits of Green Forest… only for a sullen victory.
The only true descendants of the Blood Demon left was his great granddaughter, Xiao Yin, and the current successor, Xiao Man. Both of them having the inheritance of the Blood Demon in their bodies.
When Adam brought Xiao Man back to life, he had inadvertently caused her inheritance to evolve too.
The secret Divine Physique: 'Essence'.
Other kinds of Divine Physiques, such as Xiao Man's Sword Physique, gave tangible benefits to the user. It was an attuned psyche to blades that altered the structure of the body in subtle ways.
Almost like growth correction… Optimisation.
'Essence' was barely considered a Divine Physique because it didn't have much of a tangible benefit.
People of the Blood Demon's bloodline were just generally healthy at birth. That was all it did.
It may have sounded weak, but this inheritance was something every monarch of the world would envy.
Health was always a variable.
One couldn't predict if all their children would be born healthy or talented, but the 'Essence Physique' made it so all children of this bloodline would have talent. Regardless of how much.
Although it was true that average people had been born in his bloodline, not one was below average.
It was why Xiao Man's absurd talent wasn't a shock to her mother, who was average in comparison.
However, things changed after her rebirth.
Adam gave her his 'Toxic Blade' while knowing full well how Transcendent Gifts affected Internal Qi users. Their way of manifesting Gifts being completely different from how Mana users did.
After a long while, Xiao Man's consciousness started to awaken. Her neurones were activating.
She already had a foundation for Internal Qi, but had chose to neglect this treasure to boost her external strength. It would've been squandering a precious resource if not for her intelligence.
As the current Blood Demon, she had inherited all the secret of the former title holder: Her mother.
But she chose to stray from her lineage.
Because of a falling out, Xiao Man used the techniques she'd learnt in a peculiar way in time.
It was thanks to this the Gift integrating into her was able to find a nice home without tenants.
'What is this power?' Xiao Man's mind instantly started working when she realised her changes.
A single droplet of magical energy had turned into a tsunami of Internal Qi. Naturally built from nature.
If she took this opportunity, she could perhaps even as strong as an elder of the Northblade Sect.
Like the one that almost killed her…
However, she rejected this power.
The pure energies of blood, death, evil, and sinful Yang had become nothing special in her eyes.
Instead pushing this power into the technique she practiced most as the current era's Blood Demon.
The 'Steel Skin, Iron Body' External Technique.
It was a martial art that transformed Internal Qi into physical strength permanently. Refining 'Essence'.
There was only one problem.
The cost to benefit ratio of this technique was absurdly small. To the point it was never used.
Xiao Man didn't hesitate in this decision.
Her muscular health only went through mild physical improvements… despite using up enough Internal Qi to ascend to the highest peaks. She left nothing to herself and completely demolished it all.
She felt like her senses improved a lot, which allowed her to see past the fog inside her body and into a deep space within her dantian. A pearl that had been exuding Qi now laid quietly within her.
Although she could see this core visually, she felt as if the now emptied Gift felt more 'cleaner'.
"What have you done?!" A ferocious voice came from besides her. Her mother slapped her head.
"…What are you doing here?" After holding her head in silence, Xiao Man spoke to the woman.
"What daughter call her mother 'You', huh? I've been watching over you, but you're are so-!"
"Enough. I would've done the same thing to enter an Orthodox Sect even if hadn't gotten sick." When she spoke that, Xiao Man suddenly realised that her mother looked different from the usual.
Did she get younger…?
They hadn't been eating well and were so poor they couldn't afford medicine when they were sick.
Her mother simply caught a cold previously, but it had become life-threatening due to circumstance.
And that 'circumstance' was…
"Do you blame me?" Xiao Yin seemed to notice something, and looked a little down about it all.
"…I don't." Who knew what Xiao Man meant by this.
What 'blame'?
"How much do you remember?" Nothing was shown on her face, but Xiao Yin felt anxiety.
"I… went to the Sect." (Xiao Man)
"Then?" (Xiao Yin)
"It's blurry…" (Xiao Man)
Seeing her daughter told her head in pain, there was no reason to open her wounds once again.
"Do you hate the Unorthodox?" (Xiao Yin)
"…I just think people should live with dignity." It was a jab on her conscience she hadn't expected at all.
But before she had a flashback about it, Adam sent a few messages that could them out for a while.
"Shouldn't we get back home?" Xiao Man tested the waters, but things had went as expected.
"We can't." (Xiao Yin)
"Why not?" (Xiao Man)
"A great Martial Artist in the Transcendent Stage kidnapped us and wants me to rebuild our Sect. It is related to your father's home." Xiao Yin's words caused her daughter's face to darken immediately.
She didn't say another word.
Xiao Man didn't ask anything more about it.
She didn't want to know who her father was…
Which was exactly why it was brought up.
A sly glint appeared in Xiao Yin's eyes before she decided to reveal the leader they'd now follow.
"Let me introduce you to the person who will be watching from now on." She flicked her finger.
Her daughter felt her consciousness slipping…
…..
….
…
..
.
After having confirmed their state, Adam had finally figured out how they'd go about their future goals.
If he went on with his feelings alone, then there would surely be a day when he'd become tired.
Unable to move forward because of his sympathy.
Thus, he decided a new 'role'.
Adam changed his room. He used his influence over this realm's reality to decorate a dark room.
Making it similar to a luxurious stronghold.
He sat upon a throne. Making himself comfortable above others, and separating 'Self' from Narration.
'Deep Dive' made him more aware of his real personality, but that also made his sympathy high.
To become a king of demon kind, he needed to grow into an existence that wouldn't be influenced.
A being that was devoted to his role.
This new persona will be his mask. Allowing him to move with greater intentions than ever before.
A delusion that could influence reality itself.
Adam watched as transparent blue holograms of Xiao Yin and Xiao Man appeared before him.
They looked up to see his appearance.
A man with a single horn, but had the majestic atmosphere of an overlord looking down pridefully.
He wore black clothes, and decorated his throne room with reds and bone whites on a dark canvas.
Shadows were omnipresent here.
"W-where is this place?" Xiao Man couldn't hold on her shock, but her mother seemed expecting this.
What he had done until now was inhuman enough.
Adam coughed. This would be his first introduction to people who definitely weren't part of HIS world.
They were merely poor martial artists with some background, but nothing to their name to back it.
Poverty stripped them of dignity.
Thus, he must reignite their passions in life!
The perfect leader that could become the Demon King he'd envisioned. Saving the world from death.
Thus, he introduced himself with an evil laugh:
"Hahahaha! Greetings, I am the Demon that bordered malice and affection. Demon of Love and War, Adam Graham!" He put his foot down and made the whole world tremble with his influence.
The combination made them scared…
They couldn't help believing that this earthquake inducing stomp was part of his genuine strength.
Even though it was merely an optical illusion.
Whatever, he was going to lie for a long time anyway. It wasn't like his true strength mattered.
"W-what do you want?" Xiao Man stood protectively in front of her mother by instinct.
An action that warmed the old woman's heart.
"Your fear and respect. From this day forth, the new Immortal Blood Demon Sect shall work to bring me into reality. If you don't want to…" Adam extended his hand and grasped towards her.
The powers that had resurrected her made Xiao Man gasp in pain. Her mother watched in horror.
"W-wait… Please don't hurt her." Xiao Yin covered for her daughter. A cracking sound heard behind.
She turned her head to see that Xiao Man grew a horn just like this 'Demon King'. Transforming…
The temporary pain vanished, and Xiao Man touched the horn on her head with great terror.
"N-No…!" Something seemed to have broken in her heart, but she wasn't the type to cry over spilt milk.
From on outside perspective, she seemed to have some sort of disorder from how her face changed.
Going from absolute despair to a serene heart.
It was to the point that even Adam was curious on how she so easily accepted everything, even though she'd definitely unconsciously sealed parts of her memory about how she died earlier.
"I get it now." There was a darkness hidden deep in her eyes, and she insincerely tried to trick him.
Kneeling in order to hide her frustrated face.
"If you understand this, then make sure you find me a sacrifice to possess. Do not go into conflict with the rest of the world until I say so. If you understand this, then nod your head." After Adam made his orders clear her her, she nodded at him.
With that, he sent them on their way hurriedly.
Adam could tell Xiao Yin wanted to say something to him, but he decided not to think about it.
He talked the talk. Now he had to walk the walk.
Once they got their hands on someone he could download a copy of himself into, he'd just go there.
That way, things can be done with more ease.