In a large palace sat a small boy on a throne room. He was 5 years old. He was sitting cross-legged on the throne as if he was cultivating. But only he knew he was fighting a huge battle.
He was in that position for 6 hours before he spat out golden blood and collapsed on the floor.
"Young lord!" Someone shouted and ran into the room. He carried the boy into a side room in the palace and laid him down on the bed.
In a few hours time, the boy woke up. He stood up and looked at the young man who carried him in with a smile. "Mo Fan, you are here."
"Young lord, it looks like you failed again, why do you look so happy." Mo Fan asked.
"It can't be counted as a failure this time." The boy said with a grin. "It was a draw, and I believe in a few months' time, I will win."
The boy was Mo Shen who was now 5 years old. He is the young adopted prince of the Martial Demon kingdom in one of the lower worlds. His adopted father is the current king of the Martial demon kingdom, Mo Nan.
As for the battle he was talking about, it was a battle against the consciousness of the demon bones and ancient god heart in his body for dominance of his body.
He wanted to suppress them fully and be able to control them at will, so for the past 5 years, he had been fighting with them. He had always been losing up until now that he had a draw with them.
When Mo Shen was just born, his parents thought there was no phenomenon, but there was one. The phenomenon was that time stopped for 10 years.
In those 10 years, although his body didn't grow, his soul grew tremendously. His current soul is more powerful than a cultivator in the Immortal soul realm who had just formed their Immortal soul. So he was able to understand his parents words and actions right from his birth.
What he wanted now was to suppress the demon bones and ancient God heart or find a way to destroy them so he could return back to his parents side without them worrying. To him, they brought more harm than good.
"Young lord, the old king, Mo Nan is dead." Mo Fan reported.
"Oh! He's dead? I know he still had about 50 years of lifespan left, who killed him?" Mo Shen asked in a nonchallant tone.
"I discovered that he had been preparing a large array for the past 5 years, the demon soul trapping formation." Mo Fan said and he paused and turned to look at Mo Shen.
"That old bastard." Mo Shen said with a calm voice.
"From the first time he saw me when I landed in the ancestral demon forest, I knew he was up to no good. His eyes were so filled with greed like he had discovered a treasure trove."
The Demon soul trapping formation was a formation that was supposed to be able to trap Mo Shen's soul and cut off the connection between his body and soul. Although, if he had actually done so, Mo Shen's soul would have caused a backlash on him which would lead to his death. So he was going to die one way or the other.
He was probably trying to refine Mo Shen's body into his own as he discovered it contained a shocking amount of demon power.
At that time, Mo Shen had just landed in the True Martial world and had no time to conceal his demon bones, so Mo Nan had gotten a whiff of the Demonic power in Mo Shen's body.
"So how did he die?" Mo Shen asked.
"At the time I saw him, he was quite injured. It's hard to imagine who injured him to that extent seeing as he was in the 9th stage of the Immortal Soul realm which is the peak of this world."
"It looked like he fled while being injured and wanted to speed up the formation of the array which was supposed to take at least 5 more years to complete. Then the array back-fired on him."
"Haighh!" Mo Shen sighed. "It's really like you tripping on the trap you set and falling on your sword."
"Take me to see him. I need to find out who killed him." Mo Shen told Mo Fan.
Immediately Mo Fan swept up Mo Shen in the air and flew to an inner part of the palace.
Mo Shen had spent the last 5 years battling so he had not started cultivation at all. Although the battles had sharpened his soul and body, he still had no energy of a cultivator, so he could not fly by himself.
They soon arrived at an underground palace where the old king Mo Na laid. His body was covered in injuries and his face looked aggrieved like he died an unwilling death.
Mo Shen examined the body for a while before coming to a conclusion.
"He was ambushed by 4 people." Mo Shen said.
"The first person was the state preceptor of the kingdom, Wu Ji. The second person is the demon fairy, Ji Yaoxue. The third person is the sect master of the Divine Sword sect, sword king Jian Dao. And the last person who delivered the first blow and is most likely the mastermind is his nephew, Mo Li.
"At his last sentence, Mo Fan was shocked. "What? That innocent looking Mo Li who was always with the old king?"
"I also didn't expect this as I've never felt any trace of killing intent from him towards the old king. But I'm sure it's him. I've met the 4 of them, and I can feel their killing aura on the king's body."
"It seems like Mo Li wants to usurp the throne. So the next person he'll target is me. Things are getting fun now."
"I originally wanted to wait and see if Mo Nan had any ill intent towards me, then I'll kill him and take the throne, but now, it seems things have to be brought forward."
Mo Fan felt shivers up his spine hearing Mo Shen's words. Who would believe a 5 year old boy would have such thoughts. But he was now used to it. Sometimes hearing Mo Shen talk was like an old monster speaking wise words.
"Young lord, do you really want to be king?" Mo Fan asked seriously as he noticed that Mo Shen didn't care too much about the throne.
Mo Shen smiled hearing this question. "Not really." Mo Shen said with a shrug. "I just want to see what it feels like to rule. I want to experience it myself."
"If it is fun, then one day, when my dad passes the throne to me, I will know what to do. But if it feels boring, then I'll have to look for ways to make my dad stronger so he'll never think of passing the throne to me."
***
2 months later.
"Mo Fan." Mo Shen called out as he stood up from his bed in sweat and smiles.
Since he came to this world, this was the first time he wasn't coughing up blood when he left his bed.
"Young lord" Mo Fan appeared in the room immediately. Seeing Mo Shen's happy face, he thought of something. "Did you win young lord?"
"What do you think?" Mo Shen said with a proud smile.
"Congratulations young lord." Mo Fan said with a happy smile. "Do you want to start cultivating now young lord?"
"No! Not now." Mo Shen said as his face turned serious. "Have you found out what I asked you to inquire of?"
"I have found it, but young lord, do you really want to go there?" Mo Fan asked. His face turning grim.
2 months ago, Mo Shen had asked him to find out the hottest place in the Dao universe, a place with the hottest magma.
"I have to go. That's the only chance I have to destroy my demon bones and ancient God heart. And it has to be done before I start cultivating, otherwise it will be a lot harder later on"
"Young lord, do you really have to destroy them? A lot of people will want it. Can't you keep it for your use?"
Mo Shen sighed with a sad expression. "Things are not too simple. These guys have strong sentient spirits and are constantly fighting themselves for dominance. The day one of them wins and devours the other, that one will also devour me."
"When we were fighting, it was always 3 of us against each other. If they join hands, it will be impossible for me to defeat them. They are still young now, so they don't know how to co-operate with each other. As they grow up, they'll become stronger and wiser. Who knows when they'll join hands to devour me before fighting their final battle."
"I understand young lord." The place we're going to is a particular world that is filled with magma. Only creatures at the Void Immortal realm can stand that heat. It is the Undying Phoenix world."
"But young lord, will that fire really be enough to destroy the demon bones?" Mo Fan asked.
"Of course not." Mo Shen replied. "How can a mere fire formed from the remnant of the Phoenix nirvana be enough to burn the demon bones. If it was the real flame of a Phoenix's nirvana, it might have a little effect."
"So how do you want to destroy it?" Mo Fan asked in confusion.
Mo Shen stretched out his right palm, and a terrifying golden flames formed on his palm.
"What? This is..." Mo Fan was in shock.
"Yes, it is indeed the Soul flame that signifies an Immortal soul cultivator. And it can be said to be the strongest soul flame in the Dao universe, but it cannot burn me, so I need a catalyst, which will be the flames at the Undying Phoenix world. My soul flame can make that fire there hot enough to burn me. It is also where my confidence lies in that I won't die, so don't worry about me."
Although Mo Fan was used to different shocking surprises Mo Shen presented, this was a first.
"Young lord, I really don't know the day that you'll shock my feeble heart to death."
Mo Shen smiled sheepishly hearing Mo Fan's words. "Don't worry, after this, I'll help you get to the Heavenly Immortal realm."
"What? Really young lord?" Mo Fan said in joy.
If it was another 5 year old child who had said this, he might have brushed it off as a joke. Even if it was the Demon Monarch that said this, he would not fully believe it.
But for Mo Shen, his 5 years old young lord, he completely believed it.
"Of course." Mo Shen replied. "While fighting those guys, I have devoured quite a bit of their innate memory, so my knowledge has increased tremendously."
"Okay, there's no time to waste, let's go."
Mo Fan then brought out a scroll from his storage ring with a wide smile on his face.
The scroll was a top grade teleportation artifact that could teleport to any world in the Dao universe. It contained the coordinates to all the 3000 lower worlds and a few portals in the greater Dao universe.
Before they left the greater Dao universe, Mo Wudi had given Mo Fan a lot of treasures for Mo Shen, especially life-saving and healing ones.
After manipulating the scroll for a while, a bright light shone from the scroll.
Mo Fan and Mo Shen stepped into the area of the light. Immediately their environment turned dark. All they could see was the void.
Mo Shen sat cross-legged on the void and began to meditate. He was comprehending the nature in the void.
It was one thing he had learned to do when he wasn't fighting in his mind. He comprehended nature, almost making him one with nature.