Chapter 603 - 171: Shadow Divine Techniques, the Path of Deceitful Killing; Soaring Resentment, Becoming a Demon in a Single Thought

Fear instantly overwhelmed hatred. Zhang Ling’Er was frantic! In Qing Province, anyone who underwent Demonic Transformation would be hunted down by the Demon Suppression Bureau and would eventually lose their sanity, becoming little more than a walking corpse! Just a few days ago, she had gone to the Wang Family of North City, intending to use a woman who had undergone Demonic Transformation for a "Trial Sword"! She never expected to find herself in the same predicament! "Grand Ancestor, save me! Save me!" Zhang Ling’Er cried out in despair. "Do not panic." The ancient voice was completely calm, carrying a persuasive, almost demonic charm. "Silly child, do not resist. Feel it, accept it... and control it." "What?" Zhang Ling’Er trembled, standing amidst the black mist. "But I... I don’t want to become a demon..." "And what is a demon?" From the depths of the Zhang Family Ancestral Land, the ancient being let out a low, strange laugh, as if mocking the ignorance of the world. "Silly child, there is no inherent distinction between gods and demons in this world." The ground trembled slightly. The black mist around her coalesced into a blurry, giant face, its voice booming like a great bell, striking directly at her soul. "There is only... Power!" A mournful night wind swept through the Zhang Family Ancestral Land. Withered branches and dead leaves trembled, their rustling like the wails of ghosts. Kneeling before the stone tablet, Zhang Ling’Er’s body trembled like a leaf, her eyes filled with terror and helplessness. "Unleash the hatred in your heart." The voice from the depths of the ancestral land had lost all its former majesty and sanctity. All that remained was a heart-pounding temptation, like a devil’s whisper. "Be it hatred or desire, when pushed to the absolute extreme, it can give birth to that dark, yet powerful, force." "Do not resist... Feel the Dark Power within you. Accept it, understand it, and finally... control it!" "Grand... Grand Ancestor..." Zhang Ling’Er’s voice was choked with sobs as she clutched the emerald-green jade bracelet to her chest—a priceless protective treasure bestowed upon her by the family. "This is Demonic Transformation! How can a power like this possibly be controlled?" Zhang Ling’Er’s voice was shrill with despair. At the Wang Family’s estate a few days ago, she had seen the demonized woman with her own eyes. The memory of that mindless, bloodthirsty monster, knowing only slaughter and consumption, and its nauseating, unholy aura—it was still the stuff of nightmares. "I don’t want to become a monster... I don’t want to die..." Tears streamed down her face as she babbled incoherently. "My Zhang Family has the Clear and Muddy Spirit Source! I’ve worn the Clear and Muddy Spirit Jade Bracelet to ward off corruption since I was a child! Why was I still corrupted? Why?" She couldn’t understand. She was the lofty young lady of a Noble Family; her resources and protection were second to none. So why had she been struck by the kind of misfortune that only befell low-level Independent Cultivators? "The Clear and Muddy Spirit Source can block external evils, but it cannot block a Heart Demon." The ancient voice let out a sneer. "When your resentment and obsession grow to their absolute peak, your own heart becomes the most fertile ground for darkness to grow." WHOOSH! The moment the voice faded, a terrifying gale of black Evil Qi erupted from the massive tomb. Zhang Ling’Er instinctively shut her eyes and shielded her face. When the wind died down, she timidly opened her eyes. Her pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints! A pitch-black figure hovered silently three feet away. Zhang Ling’Er’s mouth fell open. A choked gurgle was the only sound that escaped her throat; she couldn’t utter a single word. The figure wasn’t solid. It was formed from the very same Dark Power that was driving her to despair! The black mist roiled, faintly revealing an ancient, grim-faced visage. ’This aura... it’s a hundred, even a thousand times more powerful than the demonized woman from the Wang Family!’ "Wh... Why..." She felt the world spin, her entire worldview collapsing around her. ’The great ancestor, revered as a god and protector of the Zhang Family for hundreds of years... he’s a Fallen Demon, too?’ ’Why did Father never mention this?!’ ’So this is the earth-shattering secret hidden behind the so-called Righteous Noble Families and Prominent Families?!’ "Surprised?" The figure of black mist spoke slowly. "The world fears demons as it fears tigers, treating them as some great calamity. But they fail to understand that power itself is neither good nor evil." "What they call’transformation’ is simply the weak being unable to control this domineering power, their souls devoured by it instead." "If you can maintain your true self, Demonic Qi is no different from Primordial Qi! In fact... it is even stronger!" As he spoke, an arm of condensed black mist slowly rose. A tattered, dark-red ancient tome materialized in the misty palm and was offered to Zhang Ling’Er. "Take it." Zhang Ling’Er stared at the book, her body instinctively recoiling. "What’s wrong?" The shadowy figure looked down on her, his tone laced with scorn. "Weren’t you just weeping about how unfair it all was? Weren’t you just wishing you could tear that country bumpkin limb from limb?" "With your current Acupoint Realm Cultivation, with that paltry strength of yours, how do you expect to kill him?" "The gap between you and him will only grow wider..." "Give you another ten years, and you still might not catch up to a true prodigy like him!" His words were a sharp blade, plunging straight into Zhang Ling’Er’s heart. Chu Fan’s calm, indifferent face—the face of a man who saw her as nothing more than an ant—materialized in her mind once more. The humiliation! A deep and unforgivable disgrace! "I will kill him... I must kill him!" The fear in her eyes gradually gave way to a crazed, venomous hatred. Zhang Ling’Er extended a trembling hand, her fingertips brushing against the Secret Manual. BUZZ! The instant she made contact, a searing wave of Evil Qi drilled through her fingertips and into her meridians. The pain was excruciating, yet it brought with it a sense of power she had never known. She snatched the Secret Manual. BANG! The moment the Secret Manual was in her grasp, the shadowy figure before her seemed to fulfill its purpose. It exploded with a bang, dissolving back into a sky full of black mist, which then funneled back into the tomb in the depths of the Zhang Family Ancestral Land like a whale drawing in a great breath of water. The wind died. In the dead silence of the ancestral land, only the ancient voice echoed. "Feel the Dark Power within you. Accept it, understand it, and finally... control it!" "This technique is called the’Condensing Evil and Burning Heart Technique’." "You want to kill the boy who humiliated you? You want your strict father and prodigy of an older brother to finally look up to you?" "You want... to truly be the master of your own fate?" "Then cultivate it! Master the Dark Power within you!" The voice grew fainter, more ethereal, yet every word was seared into Zhang Ling’er’s mind.