A bloodied figure crouched over a talisman hovering before him. His previously golden wings are not dyed black and black veins crawled across his skin. A vengeful expression laden with fear plastered his face as he dropped a drop of his blood essence onto the talisman.
The talisman disintegrated into thin air and a small crack no larger than the width of a hair appeared in space. Two ethereal figures wearing robes that covered their entire bodies squeezed through the cracks and looked at Du Ze.
"You have a battle prowess of six realms! Even if a Golden Core cultivator descended you can still run away but now you show up beaten while still in the damnable Mortal Realm?!"
The voice was laced with pure disdain and Du Ze clenched his jaw. Sheng Tian's face once again popped up in his mind and he shuddered in fear.
"Th-the Sky Sword Sect have produce a terrifying genius this time"
The other robed figure perked up "The Sky Sword Sect? I though they were on decline"
Du Ze kneeled with his head touching the floor "I don't know! That m-monster emitted the aura of an early Foundation realm but he didn't even break a sweat when he beat me! His battle prowess could very well reach seven realms and even eight are possible!"
He then began to describe what had happened during their fight.
The two robed figures went silent. Only now did they know of a hidden variable in their plans and how dangerous it was. Since Du Ze is from the Mortal Realm, he didn't know how many geniuses had tried to climb over the mountain that was the sixth realm of battle prowess. Some managed to reach the seventh but those are few and far between.
Only if they utilized a sacrificial technique could they reach eight realms in battle prowess but from what Du Ze said, this Sheng Tian didn't utilize any sacrificial technique and only revealed a small portion of his strength.
The robed figures looked at each other and talked with voice transmissions.
"So he isn't useless, just that his opponent was too powerful"
"So what? He failed to gather the sacrifices and ruined years of planning!"
"Maybe we should risk it and go with plan B"
They went quiet after that exchange before nodding their heads and turning to Du Ze who was still trembling and kneeling on the ground.
"We can give you another chance to fix things"
Du Ze looked up to see one of the robed figures holding a translucent wisp. He shuddered at the evil and bloodthirsty aura it emitted.
"Consume all of the devil seeds you have along with this. Then, integrate them into your core devil seed. As long as you manage to stay in control then you can possess a strength greater than eight realms"
Du Ze looked at the wisp with a complicated expression. He wasn't blind and knew that there would definitely be heavy backlashes and consequences accompanying such a great boost in strength.
At last, he gritted his teeth and took the wisp from the robed men. They nodded and escaped through the tiny spatial tear. Du Ze looked at the black wisp in his hands and his eyes turned bloodshot.
"I don't know what this is but I'll make sure to pay back the humiliation I suffered!"
He thought back at how miserably he failed and how Sheng Tian beat him and shuddered, only to regain his confidence when he looked back at the black wisp. This can allow him to possess strength of eight realms! How many people can even achieve that? Throughout history, there perhaps had been only a few across the Thirteen Heavens who had done this and he was given such an opportunity.
He sat down and took out over a thousand devils seeds and swallowed them all along with the black wisp...
-
Sheng Tian had profited greatly from the trades he set up. While sitting atop a platform, Sheng Tian performed his alchemy skills in front of hundreds of people who stared in awe.
Various rare rank nine herbs and treasures fell into his hands and went into his spatial ring and life ring. At this point, he had enough resources to stock the sect warehouse for centuries!
It soon got dark and everyone walked back with smiles on their faces. This was because they all got pills that can boost their strength many times. Once they consumed the pills they wouldn't fall into a disadvantage when fighting half-bloods with a superior physique!
Sheng Tian went into his cabin and set up a small formation to prevent all aura and sounds from leaking as well as prevent anyone from peeking at him. Tang Die Hua and Shang Yu Hong kneeled in a corner of the room and cultivated by themselves. They no longer seem reluctant to serve him once they witnessed his strength and alchemy skills. Perhaps following such a master can lead them to greater heights than they could ever reach.
Sheng Tian paid them little heed and went into the bathroom and filled a tub with hot water. Wu Di left his sea of consciousness and began arranging various rank nine herbs and metals as Sheng Tian stripped and submerged himself in the tub.
"I must say, your physique is quite mind-boggling for your realm. Even without doing this, you bloodline and body is practically unrivaled even among body cultivators"
"My body might be indestructible in the same realm but my organs are not. I will be directing most of the energy from this tempering session to the weaker parts of my body"
Wu Di nodded "Most don't know this, but everyone is at most using ninety percent of their full strength. This is because their organs and meridians cannot bear one hundred percent of their strength. Still, don't you think you're pushing yourself a little too hard?"
Sheng Tian went still for a moment, drowned in his thoughts.
"Do I need a reason to pursue strength?"
Wu Di was silent as he watched the young man whose past he could not fathom. He knew that freeing the realms from Heaven's control is not the only reason he acted like this.
"Until I met you, I thought my birth parents were dead. When I met you I learned that my origins are too high for the current me to comprehend, as it would bring karmic burden"
Wu Di then understood, Sheng Tian may act ruthless to his enemies and a bit cold to allies but in reality he just wanted to see his parents. He didn't want hindrances to delay him and wanted to prove himself once he met them.
Wu Di sighed and looked at Sheng Tian with pity.
"Would your parents be proud if you simply mindlessly cultivated? You should know how hard it is to regain a severed emotion once you completely cut the string"
Sheng Tian looked down and descended into thought. The water had cooled and the Primordial Chaos Dragon Flame and the Primordial Chaos Tyrant Lightning came out to reheat the water before nudging Sheng Tian in hopes of cheering him up.
He closed his eyes and fell into a trance. Then, light surrounded his figure, signifying a bout of enlightenment.
Wu Di simply stayed silent and waited with a smile. Sheng Tian's talent is practically unmatched throughout history and is the only one capable of achieving what he could not. Guiding him in the right direction so he wouldn't have any regrets is the least he could do besides giving him almost all the information on the Thirteen Heavens. In fact, he had started viewing Sheng Tian as his own son or grandson and wished what every other parent wanted, a grandson.
"I failed to do what I had vowed to all life, but now my inheritor shall complete it for me. Soon, maybe in less than a thousand years, the world will be freed"
His eyes were resolute while he stared at Sheng Tian. He now only wanted to make sure every step he took would be the right one for this might be their last chance.