Chapter 362 - 333: A Blessing in Disguise

Chapter 362: Chapter 333: A Blessing in Disguise

"The erosion... it’s getting worse..."

Chu Mu clenched his jaw, veins bulging on his forehead.

Inside his mind, it was as if countless unknown existences were whispering softly, and as if endless roars echoed on.

As the erosion deepened, the influence of the Demon Nature, seemingly under the effect of the True Demon Bloodline, became more and more ingrained.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the faintly visible Divine Soul Saber acted on its own to protect its master. Countless brilliant saber lights flashed, severing the endless tide of encroaching Demon Nature.

His originally normal body, under this erosion, began to sprout thick strands of hair on his arms and back. His arms even began to twist and grow in a grotesque transformation.

His entire being was rapidly hurtling toward a non-human state.

Chu Mu was frantic, yet utterly powerless.

Even the unshakable calm granted by his Spiritual Radiance Blessing was now in disarray.

It was as if his consciousness was blurring. Vaguely, he even felt a bizarre sense of unfamiliarity.

’Who is Chu Mu?’

’What is the Immortal Path?’

’And Spiritual Radiance... what is that?’

Amidst this bizarre unfamiliarity, there seemed to be a faint sense of recognition. However, this familiarity stemmed from an even stranger sense of alienation.

It was as if he no longer remembered who Chu Mu was, no longer remembered himself. Instead, he regarded another identity, another "demon"...

...as his everything.

’So that’s how it is!’

Under such erosion, Chu Mu suddenly had an epiphany.

He finally understood why those Demon Cultivators had all been so unafraid of death!

If he kept transforming like this, he would become just as fearless!

The source of the bloodline was that True Demon!

With the True Demon as the source, its offshoots were destined to become its slaves!

This was the influence of the True Demon Bloodline!

A wicked bloodline system, similar to a Demon Beast Bloodline, yet a class all its own.

He desperately clung to his last shreds of clarity. As his body twisted and transformed, his face contorted from the agonizing struggle.

"Seal!"

Mustering what little strength he had, he didn’t hesitate for a second. With a low shout, a faint fluorescent light flickered around him, forming a barrier that completely isolated him from the bloody water’s Demon Nature in an instant.

He collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, his heart pounding with lingering fear.

After a long while, he struggled to his feet and sat cross-legged. Under his Spiritual Radiance Blessing, he used his Divine Sense Perception to scan everything inside and outside his body.

Parts of his body had transformed, his Essence, Qi, and Spirit had all been eroded, and the signs of Demonization varied in severity. His festering wounds seemed to have become a breeding ground for the Demonization Erosion, allowing it to proceed almost entirely unimpeded.

He sensed the activity of the Saber Intent in his Sea of Consciousness, then closed his eyes to regulate his breathing for a moment.

Daring not to delay, he swallowed several Healing Elixirs. Then, with a command of his Divine Sense, the Great Sun True Flame hovering in his Dantian began to move.

In an instant, the True Flame enveloped his body inside and out, burning and refining it relentlessly.

The Demonic Qi and True Demon Remnant Blood were forced out and purged, bit by bit, under this fiery refinement.

His transformed body parts slowly returned to their original state.

This process continued for nearly an hour.

Chu Mu slowly opened his eyes. With a wave of his hand, a fist-sized ball of Bloodline Essence floated above his palm.

The Bloodline Essence was a demonic black color, crystalline and translucent. It was exquisitely beautiful, and also exquisitely... wicked!

The transformation caused by a Demon Beast Bloodline was within a controllable range. And while a Demon Beast Bloodline would affect a person’s mind, this influence was passive.

This True Demon Bloodline, however, actively eroded one’s Spiritual Wisdom. Once the erosion was complete, the victim would inevitably become a slave to the bloodline’s source.

Unable to live, yet forbidden to die!

Even their very thoughts would likely be altered.

They would come to view that True Demon as a supreme and revered being, incapable of even a single thought of defiance.

However...

Chu Mu was a bit puzzled. With a wave of his hand, a wisp of Great Sun True Flame floated in his palm.

He had thought that the Demonization Erosion from this True Demon Bloodline would be difficult to resolve, that it might even affect his Immortal Path and turn him into some bizarre creature, neither human nor demon.

But after refining it with his True Flame, the result was completely beyond his expectations.

It was surprisingly easy, as if the flame completely suppressed, or even countered, the bloodline. It was effortless.

It was far easier than when he had used his Saber Intent to purge the erosion of True Demon Qi.

’Supreme Yang and Firmness... is this a counter? A nemesis?’

Chu Mu vaguely understood. The previous assassination attempt against him was likely because of this.

’If I were a demon, it would obviously be best to snuff out a counter like this at its source.’

However, since it was a nemesis...

Chu Mu looked around. The bloody water churned, growing thicker and more viscous.

The mysterious force blanketing the entire Chu Capital Inner City was clearly still gathering the blood from all over Chu Capital City, converting it into this special blood-food.

He sensed his body. His wounds had healed significantly, and his physical form seemed to have been strengthened considerably.

Sensing the commotion outside the Blood Pool, he noted the roaring was still continuous. The True Demon’s rampage—or rather, the struggle for control over the Demon Body—was clearly not over.

Then, with a slight shift in his thoughts, he waved his hand, and the faint fluorescent light around him dissipated. The erosion from the bloody water, which had been sealed off, instantly surged back into his body.

This time, however, the moment the erosion touched his body, it was immediately burned and refined by his True Flame.

Like peeling a silkworm cocoon, the Demonic Qi and bloodline erosion were all purged, leaving only the pure essence to pour into his body.

It was as if he had taken some terrifyingly potent Spirit Elixir. As the bloody essence circulated, his festering wounds healed at a visible pace.

At the same time, the tempering effect of the Blood Qi Essence on his physical body also became apparent. A seemingly endless tide of crimson power surged wantonly through his form.

Inside and out, amidst the swirling flames, a brilliant, crystalline crimson light flowed.

Both within and without, under this torrential power, a transformation had already begun.

Upon the Blood Pool’s altar, Chu Mu shamelessly absorbed the fruits of the True Demon’s decades of planning.

Above the Blood Pool, in Chu Capital City, the True Demon’s rampage had long since left the city in deathly silence.

Tens of thousands of Cultivators from Chu Capital City had all been gathered into the Blood Pool, becoming nourishment for the restoration of the Demon Body.

The True Demon’s rampage continued. Its massive body was now nearly contorted, and in its scarlet eyes, the alternating flashes of reason and savagery clearly showed the intensity of the struggle for control over the Demon Body.

The City Defense Array still stood tall and imposing, isolating the inner and outer parts of Chu Capital. In the outer city, the streets remained bustling with people, the prosperity and clamor of the mortal world unaffected by the isolating Grand Array.

No one knew that, sealed off by the Grand Array, a once-bustling and prosperous Cultivation Immortal Marketplace had now become a veritable Demon Realm on earth.

Nor could anyone have imagined that in just a few short days, a Golden Core had fallen, a True Demon had been born, and a battle for a Demon Body had erupted...

Any one of these events would have been enough to shake the entire Great Chu Cultivation Immortal World, yet here in the Chu Capital Inner City, they had unfolded one after another, and the curtain had yet to fall...

...