Day after day, year after year, Huan Yi suffered. But as darkness conquered his heart, and his soul burned with vengeful fury, a young woman reached out—singlehandedly pulling Huan Yi out of the darkness. Her name was Zi Xia.
A black-market merchant, Zi Xia took pity on Huan Yi, and after earning his affection and trust, promised to smuggle him out of Zhao so he could escape the world of darkness and agony that had denied him the right to be a normal child.
However, as the operation succeeded and Huan Yi stood on the verge of escaping his nightmares, Zi Xia completed her delivery, bringing Huan Yi to a band of demonic cultivators for a sum of 100,000 Blood Stones.
Yes. A magnificent sum enough to turn kings into common thieves. That was the price of Huan Yi's life.
"Don't blame me. Just like you, I am just a pawn in this game. In your world, a woman that cannot provide for herself can only live as a servant, a slave, or a baby-making factory. But in the world that I come from, things are even worse. Not being strong and free is a crime in and of itself, so I have to become as strong as I can, as quickly as possible.
It's nothing personal. There is no justice under the heavens. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for having piqued the interest of those powerhouses. Congratulations, Huan Yi. Many would kill for that honor." This would be Zi Xia's farewell speech.
Later, the demons explained that Huan Yi had a unique soul, and was born with the same name and on the same date as their prophesied savior, making him suitable for his reincarnation ritual. They took him to the edge of the world, where the top experts of the Demon Realm awaited to carry out the ritual that would enable Huan Yi to become…the vessel of their lord and savior.
Never in his life had Huan Yi felt so wronged. Even when the Zhao abused him from morning to evening, even when his mother vented her rage and resentment on him, Huan Yi never truly hated them, because at least he could understand the source of their hatred.
But now, someone that he had no enmity with, someone that had no reason to mistreat him, filled his heart with joy and happiness, gave him an opportunity to escape the cruel world that was about to devour him, then sent him to his death…all for some prophecy?
"It is so wrong!
It is so unfair!
I don't want my life to end like this! I want to live, to experience a bit of freedom and happiness! What have I done to deserve this disgusting shit of a life?! Heaven, why have you forsaken me?!" Huan Yi raged as the Karma-Wielding Tree completed its ascent, unaware that the hatred and resentment that currently peaked in his heart were also key to completing this ancient formation.
The souls of the 16,000 children merged into a gigantic ball of white and black energies, stabilizing in a Yin-Yang figure as the demons' hands moved in mystical gestures.
"RRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!" One loud hissing sound boomed across the land.
Ten gigantic blood swords shot out of the Karma-Wielding Tree, racing in circle and leaving gargantuan trails of Blood and Spiritual Energies behind. The 10 leaders of the demonic forces stepped forward, facing the 10 rotating swords.
"It falls on our shoulders to put in the final touch.
Brothers, at times we were mortal enemies. On other occasions, we led our forces against the tyranny of Heaven and its dreadful deities. Eons have passed in a flash, and now it is time to say farewell.
It was my pleasure to have roamed the battlefields by your side.
Thank you and sorry for not having been a strong enough leader to lead the Demon Realm to victory. Because of my incompetence, you will now have to sacrifice your lives." With his back facing the nine other Demon Sages, the Demon Monarch said.
"The pleasure was ours, Your Majesty. Gods defeating demons is the natural order. The mere fact that you've managed to preserve the fragmented Demon Realm for so long is already a miracle. In terms of accomplishments, I dare say that you've outdone your predecessors." One of the nine sages said, and though they didn't chime in, his peers nodded in approval.
"True. Without the Demon Child, the Demon Realm cannot triumph. So, let's go, and through our sacrifice, give the Demon Realm the leader that it needs to not only stand on equal footing with Heaven, but defeat the Gods once and for all." The Demon Monarch said, then turned into a beam of pitch-black energies. The nine other sages followed his lead, in tandem diving into the ten gigantic blood swords.
One blast of sinister energies boomed out, marking the completion of the ritual. But concealed by formations led down in advance by the Demon Realm's top experts, that energy blast didn't draw the attention of Heaven's powerhouses.
Red, black and white lightning rained from the sky, smiting all across 10,000 km. The 600 remaining demon experts didn't escape. More specifically, even if they wanted to, they couldn't.
The lightning converged into the Broken Demon Corpse, which then fused with the ball of Yin and Yang before diving toward Huan Yi.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Watching what seemed to be the end of the world, Huan Yi burst into laughter, losing himself to the corrupt energies that poured into his body.
Another blast followed, and Huan Yi, the Broken Demon Corpse and the Karma-Wielding Tree burst into particles of multicolored light. Under the eyes of the surviving demons, those particles assembled, mixing the peak of divine and demonic powers before coalescing into seven-colored ashes.
---
Unbeknown to the demon observers, an infinitely vast world existed within those ashes. There, a blurry figure sat at the foot of a tall tree, holding a large manuscript with his right hand while using the left to play chess with an invisible opponent.
"I guess that's it for us," the blurry figure said and waved its right hand. The chess table broke into dust particles, and the figure stood up, walking towards Huan Yi.
"You are Huan Yi?"
"Yes." Prompted by irresistible forces, Huan Yi's soul directly answered.
"For this ritual to be deemed a success. You and I weren't supposed to meet. Unfortunately for me, your original soul was so pure that once corrupted by feelings of hatred, despair, rage and resentment, it turned into a just as pure and relentless ball of negativity, surviving long enough to meet me," the blurry figure explained, but more intrigued by the mystical landscape and the ancient energies saturating the atmosphere, Huan Yi swept the surroundings, trying to make sense of the situation.
"Who…are you?" Unable to come to a coherent conclusion, Huan Yi asked.
"I suppose you could call me…the Manifestation of Evil."
"The what?"
"Fear, darkness, negativity, war, slaughter, violent, malevolent or passionate desires, it doesn't matter. Anything with the potential to breed or spread evil contributes to my existence. I have existed for as long as sentient beings have existed. And so long as the concepts of good and evil remain, I will never die. I am Evil, just like the Heavens that you mortals worship, a primordial entity.
And you are Huan Yi, the boy destined to become the vessel of my next incarnation." The figure explained, but though he was now starting to get a better understanding of the situation, Huan Yi didn't feel better. On the contrary, his rage ballooned to maddening proportions.
"There are so many Huan Yi in this world. Why…why me?" Huan Yi barked at the Manifestation of Evil.
"It is your destiny. In the same way that countries inevitably rise and fall, your bloodline was rigged in times immemorial to produce the child that'd become my vessel. Now you're about to vanish from this world and leave behind the so-called Demon Child that those annoying fleas have been waiting for.
But since your soul has endured long enough to meet me, I must erase this karma so you cannot pervert my perfect nature," the Manifestation of Evil said and raised its right hand. Bright silver flames took shape, flickering with primordial forces that'd make demons and gods shiver in suffocating terror.
Yet, despite the invincible power he faced, Huan Yi refused to give up—casting a defiant stare.
"Think you can swoop in, destroy my future, and carry on as if I'd never existed! What are you taking me for?! I am a person, not a toy! And since you're determined to rob me of my life, I will make sure you pay a corresponding price!" Huang Yi pledged, and in a final act of defiance, turned into a ball of blinding light.
More dazzling than the sun, that soul ball gathered the emotions and desires of all the people that had been sacrificed by the Heaven Rejecting Formation. Be it good or evil, each had a life of their own, and in one way or another, enjoyed the feelings of bliss, agony, love and hatred.
With Huan Yi at the core, these emotions and desires crystallized into a myriad of blinding arrows, bolting toward the Manifestation of Evil.
"A soul this pure, resilient and powerful only appears once in a million years. Had your destiny not been linked to mine, you could have become the leader of an era. Unfortunately…" The Manifestation of Evil extended its left hand. A blast of silver flames gushed forth, obliterating the myriad arrows like a giant stepping on crawling ants.
"…You are not the protagonist," the Manifestation of Evil said. However, as the remains of Huan Yi and the others vanished into nothingness, united by Huan Yi, their cries became a formless energy wave that sneaked past the silver flames and collided with the blurry figure before also dispersing into the void.