Chapter 54

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Today, I have some business to attend to outside, so I won't be home for most of the day. Therefore, there will only be two updates today!

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The Yin Clan warriors retreated like a black tide, swiftly moving through the narrow valleys.

Several elders of the Yin Clan had already set up a demonic array in the distant forest to conceal their presence. A few captured demonic beasts lay within the array, groaning weakly. Their auras, amplified several times by the array, were sufficient to perfectly mask the presence of the Yin Clan warriors.

Yin Xuege hid on the peak of a high mountain several miles away, sitting cross-legged on a tree with lush branches. The leaves swayed, covering his figure. The autumn cicada concealment technique operated automatically, and the jade cicada pendant hanging from his chest emitted a faint silver light. Yin Xuege's aura was completely contained, and even as the mountain wind blew through the tree, it did not carry away any of his presence.

A thin, ancient book made of light greenish-yellow shell leaves was carefully spread out on his lap. With his clean hands, he gently turned the pages. The ancient, elegant demonic script on the pages caught his eye. This was an ancient book titled *The Heavenly Dao of Demonic Heart*.

The content of this thirty-six-page ancient book was not much, but it recorded the cultivation insights of an unknown great demon from ancient times.

There were no records of cultivation techniques or processes. The book only contained the sporadic insights of this great demon. The first sentence alone made Yin Xuege's hair stand on end: "The Heavenly Dao is无情, the Great Dao is impartial, thus all things in the frosty sky compete for freedom. Those who compete face a one in ten thousand chance of survival, while those who do not compete are certain to die."

A stark, cold, and bloody philosophy of survival unfolded before Yin Xuege. The insights of the ancient great demon, from its early days as a cub to its eventual growth into a mighty demon that no one could subdue, were laid bare before him.

"The Heavenly Dao, the path of cultivation, the path of immortality, the path of the strong preying on the weak; a mountain of blades and a sea of blood, every step fraught with thorns; there is only advancement, no retreat, and those who retreat will die; no pity, no fairness, no compassion, no joy."

In just a few months, Yin Xuege had grown from a young child who was bullied and oppressed in the Yin Clan to a Duke-level powerhouse. His growth was so rapid that it could not be described as a meteoric rise. Even in the pre-Dharma Era, when divine immortals and buddhas filled the heavens, Yin Xuege's growth could only be described as monstrous!

In just a few months, he had risen from a mortal to a powerful cultivator on par with a newly formed Golden Core. Apart from the legendary immortals and great powers who had reincarnated, who could achieve such terrifying efficiency? Even those immortals and great powers would need to stabilize their minds and be cautious to prevent the growth of heart demons in such circumstances!

Yin Xuege was just a child, and Yin Tianjue did not believe he was a reincarnation of an ancient divine immortal. Therefore, his mental cultivation was a headache. At such a young age, possessing such power, and holding privileges akin to an elder in the Yin Clan, he had also become the bloodline son of the Faenbourg Prince of the Stuttgart family, with a background so powerful that it left people speechless.

If he could not control his mental state, this once-in-a-millennium Daywalker, Yin Xuege, might very well perish prematurely!

Therefore, Yin Tianjue retrieved this ancient great demon's cultivation insights from the Yin Clan's scripture library for him to study. Each word in this ancient book was a testament to blood and tears, and the descriptions of various cruel and brutal insights were enough to shock Yin Xuege and make him understand what true cultivation truly meant.

"Struggling bitterly, the masses have only a sliver of hope; if the Heavenly Dao offers a chance and you do not take it, you will surely suffer a great calamity; therefore, when hope is before you, you must use any means necessary, even if it means wading through a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, to seek survival in the midst of death; if you succeed, you will bask in golden light; if you fail, you will be reduced to dust."

"On the path of the Heavenly Dao, there should be no sorrow, no joy, no worry, no anger; sorrow corrupts the mind, joy corrupts the will, worry corrupts the soul, and anger corrupts the spirit; those who advance first may turn to ashes, while those who advance later may achieve immortality; only by striving hard and breaking through the myriad worlds can one see the magnificent universe."

"If you are weak, there will be a time when you are strong; if you are strong, there is always a higher power; do not fear weakness, and do not rely on strength; the Heavenly Dao has cycles, yin and yang can transform; the weak are not always weak, and the strong are not always strong; I have only one heart for survival, and I will crash into the Heavenly Dao with all my might."

Each word and sentence was a testament to blood and tears, a warning!

As Yin Xuege read the insights left by this unnamed ancient great demon, he felt a chill run through his body. The arrogance and overconfidence that had grown with his rapid increase in power seemed to be doused by an ocean of water, disappearing without a trace in a few blinks of an eye!

"Merely a Duke, above me, a thousand-year Duke can easily kill me. A Blood Demon Prince can easily kill a thousand-year Duke, a legendary Blood Emperor can destroy a Blood Demon Prince with a snap of his fingers, and a Blood God can slay a Blood Emperor with a breath." Yin Xuege carefully pondered each word of the thin ancient book, feeling a coolness spread through his body. His heart beat steadily and powerfully in his chest, and he no longer felt any impatience or arrogance.

Looking up at the sky, Yin Xuege recalled the things Yin Tianjue had told him in recent days!

In the Dharma Era, the laws were shattered, and the spirit veins collapsed, leaving no trace of the ancient great powers. But in the current world, at the end of the Dharma Era, the laws are reappearing, and the spirit veins are regathering. The heavenly grottos and blessed lands are gradually reappearing, and the portals to the three realms will soon open.

In a few years, or a few decades, at most a hundred years, the ancient great powers who had vanished will gradually return. This world, in ancient times, was a key battleground for the powers of the heavens, the origin of the stars, the beginning of the primordial chaos, the axis of the three realms, and the cradle of all things.

In the future, this world will be a chaos unlike any seen in ancient times. Before the great trends of the heavens and earth, the so-called strong of the current world are mere ants. To survive, to live better, to live more brilliantly, more freely, more recklessly, and more unbridled, one must become stronger than everyone else to live according to one's own will!

The Yin Clan is not without its roots. Just by looking at the secret treasure, the Blood Parrot, one can see that the Yin Clan has countless secrets behind it. Yin Tianjue only briefly mentioned this to Yin Xuege but did not delve into the issue.

Looking at the boundless sky, the layers of clouds, Yin Xuege suddenly smiled. He smiled easily, brightly, and carefree, like a giant bird soaring through the sky, unbound by any worries.

There was no blood rising around him, his heart did not stir, and the demonic blood in his body remained stable. But a warm sensation welled up in his lower dantian, and the surrounding earth qi spontaneously surged toward him, forming an invisible vortex that silently entered his dantian.

At this moment, Yin Xuege's body seemed to disappear from the world, and his consciousness had merged with the wind, the clouds, the vast mountains, and the boundless sky. In just three breaths, the amount of earth qi his body absorbed was equivalent to what a Jiang Clan elite disciple would absorb through three years of cultivation!

Warm, nameless power emerged from his dantian. Yin Xuege did not know how to control this power, and in his blank state of consciousness, he did not even perceive its existence. Simply following the simplest rules of the Heavenly Dao, forty-nine streams of nameless warm qi from his dantian surged into his body, transforming into countless tiny streams that merged into his entire being.

The demonic essence in his body became even purer, like iron refined into steel, undergoing a fundamental change.

The yin and evil qi in his demonic blood were finely refined, losing some of its sinister and evil qualities but gaining a natural, clear, and flowing essence. When his blood flowed, it became more agile and swift, and the energy it contained increased.

The silver jade cicada hanging from his chest absorbed some of the heat from his body and then released a faint silver glow, quickly circling him three times. With a series of 'cracking' sounds, countless cracks appeared on his skin.

Before Yin Xuege could regain his senses, a thin layer of withered, dead skin flaked off his body. The mountain wind circled him, and these flakes silently disappeared into the wind. The new skin was even finer and smoother, with a faint jade-like glow beneath the pale skin.

If Yin Xuege were to cut his skin with a regular steel knife at this moment, he would find that his skin had become exceptionally tough, like the hide of an old ox, and a regular steel knife would struggle to cut it. His physical defense had already surpassed that of an ordinary Blood Demon Duke, far exceeding the strength of newly promoted Blood Demon Dukes by more than double.

Defense, strength, agility, and flexibility—Yin Xuege's rapid absorption of a large amount of earth qi in just a few breaths brought him enormous benefits through some mysterious changes he was unaware of.

Several miles away, there was a sudden commotion in the valley where the death trap was set. Yin Xuege, who was immersed in a hazy state, twitched his ears and suddenly opened his eyes, looking toward the valley. He did not notice the changes in his body but casually tucked the *Heavenly Dao of Demonic Heart* into his chest.

Thirty or so men and women crept along the riverbank and then darted into the valley. The person leading them was none other than the trusted subordinate that Faen岚 had sent out earlier, who had been enslaved by the Yin Clan but had not yet been granted the essence blood to transform into a Blood Demon.

With tattered clothes, her body covered in small, mouth-like wounds, and her face pale as death, Faen岚 weakly staggered out of a cave. As soon as she stepped out, she fell to the ground and spat out a large mouthful of blood.

The Second Ice Emperor of the Great Berlin City-State, Allen, rushed to Faen岚's side, supporting her limp, blood-soaked body. He screamed in panic, "Faen岚, what happened to you? Damn it, what were Galbordi and the others doing? Those useless fools, I knew they were good for nothing but eating, drinking, and playing!"