hotmtlnovel Chapter 2 Face the 6 Paths
Chapter 2 Face the 6 Paths
After a while, Wen Tianren appeared in front of the gloomy and terrifying cave of the Six Paths Supreme Saint deep in the Holy Demon Island.
Dark clouds filled the sky above the cave, forming a massive vortex of black and red. Thunder rumbled faintly, but no rain fell. It was as if the end of the world had come, and a suffocating sense of oppression weighed heavily on one's heart.
"Come in!"
Before Wen Tianren could transmit his voice, a deep, cold voice entered his ears from the cave.
Both his predecessor and himself were terrified of this "master". Wen Tianren took a deep breath, suppressed the surging emotions in his heart, and with a movement, he transformed into a black shadow and disappeared into the cave.
As soon as he entered the cave, a wave of demonic energy, so intense it was almost tangible, rushed towards him, carrying with it a bone-chilling cold and a bloody stench. Wen Tianren's vision went black, and he felt dizzy. The next moment, he found himself standing in the center of a dark and magnificent hall.
On either side of the center of the hall, six stone statues, each over ten feet tall, stand majestically, their faces ferocious, fangs protruding, and eyes deep-set as if blood were flowing within them, as if they might come to life at any moment and devour someone.
Wen Tianren immediately recognized that these were the six demons from the Six Extremes True Demon Art.
As Wen Tianren was surveying the hall, he suddenly felt a chilling aura. A cold, bone-chilling sensation pressed down on his spine.
Looking up, a gigantic demonic face appeared in mid-air at some unknown time—its features were distorted, its skin peeled off like charcoal, its eyes were blood red, and its body was surrounded by demonic energy, like the lord of the abyss looking down on the mortal world.
The moment those eyes locked onto him, Wen Tianren felt as if his blood had frozen instantly, his limbs stiffened like iron, and even his breath stopped. Alarm bells rang in his mind, but he couldn't move a single finger.
"Indeed, being able to summon the six demonic phantoms at the early stage of Core Formation proves my judgment. You are extremely suited to cultivate this demonic art. Even I, your master, could only summon the six demonic phantoms at the mid-stage of Core Formation."
The demonic face slowly opened its mouth, and six cold voices came from the mouth of the hideous face in mid-air.
At that moment, the binding force suddenly dissipated. Wen Tianren felt a wave of relief wash over him, almost collapsing from exhaustion, but he dared not show it in the slightest. He immediately bowed deeply, his tone extremely respectful: "This is all thanks to Master. If it weren't for Master's teachings, how could this disciple have achieved even this small success today?"
The demonic face curled into a strange smile, a smile that sent chills down one's spine: "Alright, now that you have made a preliminary entry into the Six Extremes True Demon Art, and you have been forming your core for quite some time, it is time to start refining your natal magic weapon. I will bestow upon you the refining methods for this level eight crystallized demon core and the Heavenly Sun Gilded Needle."
Since Wen Tianren formed his core, he has been cultivating the Six Extremes True Demon Art. Although he has no shortage of materials for crafting magic weapons, he has not yet started crafting them. He does not yet possess the Heavenly Yang Golden Needle, his natal magic weapon from the original work.
However, Wen Tianren did not intend to use the Heavenly Sun Golden Needle as his natal magic weapon. However, the Crystallized Demon Pill was also closely related to the magic weapon he was going to refine. Wen Tianren calmly accepted the Crystallized Demon Pill and the jade slip for refining the Heavenly Sun Golden Needle, and put them into his storage bag without looking at them closely.
He bowed slightly and said, "Thank you for bestowing this treasure upon me, Master. However, I have another matter to ask of you."
The demonic face narrowed its bloodshot eyes, remained silent for a moment, and then slowly said, "Speak."
Wen Tianren was prepared and spoke sincerely: "It's nothing serious. It's just that I feel I've been cultivating too fast lately and my mind is unstable. I almost suffered a backlash from the Six Extremes True Demon Art this time. I request to go out and gain some experience, hoping to broaden my horizons and temper my mind."
After saying that, Wen Tianren added, "Moreover, I also plan to start working on the task of finding the ancient demon's ruins, which Master instructed me to do during this trip."
It turns out that the reason why the Six Paths Supreme Saint accepted Wen Tianren as his disciple was not only because he had a fire-attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root, but more so because his physique was the Heavenly Fiend True Demon Body, which was extremely suitable for cultivating demonic arts.
This physique is not only perfectly suited for cultivating the Six Extremes True Demon Art, making it the most suitable incarnation for the Six Paths Supreme Saint, but it is also extremely sensitive to True Demon Qi. The Six Paths Supreme Saint wants Wen Tianren to rely on this physique to find the ancient demon's remains.
Thus, as long as the ancient demon's remains are found, the Six Paths Supreme Saint can rely on the true demonic energy within to cultivate the Six Extremes True Demon Art, making the Six Extremes True Demon Art a great success. At that time, he will be able to contend with the Yuan Magnetic Divine Light of the Star Palace Twin Saints, and it is even possible to break through the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul stage.
Wen Tianren held his breath and stared intently at the demonic face out of the corner of his eye—the other party's expression remained unchanged, but a faint blood-red light flickered in his eyes, clearly indicating that he was weighing his options.
Seeing that Liu Dao did not object immediately, Wen Tianren breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that there was great hope for leaving Holy Demon Island.
Sure enough, after a moment, the demonic face slowly nodded: "Not bad. You have already formed your core at the age of sixty-something. Your cultivation speed is too fast and it is easy for your mental state to have problems. So I will allow you to go out of the island for some training. However, you must not be playful and must not neglect your cultivation."
These words were grating to Wen Tianren's ears. Anyone who didn't know better, seeing this harmonious scene between master and disciple, would surely think that this Six Paths Supreme Saint was a good master who always considered his disciple's needs.
Only Wen Tianren knew that his family had been slaughtered by the Six Paths, and he had been raised by them like a poisonous insect since childhood until he reached the Foundation Establishment stage, at which point he was taken in as a disciple.
It's no exaggeration to say that its predecessor crawled out of a pile of dead bodies.
"I will follow Master's teachings. I dare not be playful. I will definitely redouble my efforts to cultivate and find the ancient demon's remains to repay Master's nurturing grace and help Master achieve great things!" Wen Tianren bowed again and replied, trying hard to suppress the joy in his heart, and his face became more and more humble.
"Very good." The demonic face nodded in satisfaction, opened its massive mouth, and two streams of light flew out, hovering in front of Wen Tianren.
"Since you're going out to gain experience, you should accept these two magic treasures. With these two treasures plus the ones you already have, I doubt anyone in the Core Formation stage of the Chaotic Star Sea will be able to stop you."
As soon as he finished speaking, two magical treasures appeared.
A purple haze enveloped the banner, its surface resembling mist and smoke.
Another treasure, like eight golden flames, floated in mid-air. Even from this distance, Wen Tianren could feel the intense pressure emanating from this treasure.
"It seems these are replicas of the Purple Cloud Banner and the Eight Gates Golden Light Mirror. They are both treasures." Wen Tianren looked at the two treasures with shining eyes.
The Purple Cloud Banner is a protective magic treasure with the ability to conceal one's form and shield one's divine sense. One can move freely within the purple mist emitted by the Purple Cloud Banner, and even the divine sense of an ordinary Nascent Soul stage cultivator cannot see through it.
In the original story, if Han Li hadn't possessed the Yin Demon Slash's ability to tear through space, breaking through the Purple Cloud Banner's defense would have required considerable effort.
The other one is even more powerful. It is known as the number one offensive treasure in the Chaotic Star Sea. Thousands of years ago, the legendary rogue cultivator, Tianjing Sanren, used this magic weapon to trap and kill the then Star Palace Saint Lord.
Although what we see here is just a replica, its power is not to be underestimated. It is probably incomparable to the magic weapons of ordinary Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
"Disciple thanks Master for the generous gift!" Wen Tianren hurriedly stepped forward and solemnly accepted the two magical treasures.
Just as he put the magic weapon into his storage bag—
"Buzz!"
A beam of black and red light shot out from the demonic eye, as fast as lightning, and pierced straight into his brow!
All of this happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that Wen Tianren didn't have time to react. Or even if he could react, he wouldn't dare to resist. He knew that this must be a restriction placed on him by the Six Paths Supreme Saint. He wouldn't let himself leave Holy Demon Island without doing anything.
"I just left a mark of my soul on you. Although few people in the Core Formation stage can harm you in this Chaotic Star Sea, it is still very easy for someone in the Nascent Soul stage to kill you."
"With this mark, if you encounter an invincible Nascent Soul cultivator, I will appear through the mark, which will ensure your safety." The demonic voice echoed, carrying an undeniable authority.
Wen Tianren lowered his head and sneered inwardly: What kind of life-saving soul imprint is this? It's just used to monitor me, to prevent me from running away. I knew you had this trick up your sleeve all along.
However, it's not wrong. With this mark, even powerful figures like Manhuzi and Wan Tianming, who are in the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, or even Nascent Soul cultivators from the Star Palace, wouldn't dare to leave themselves behind when Liu Dao appeared. This is the deterrent power of a great demonic cultivator.
As for whether he was worried that he would turn to the Star Palace and ask the two saints to help him get rid of the mark, as a fellow late-stage cultivator, Liu Dao was quite confident in this. Even for a legendary Nascent Soul cultivator, it wouldn't be so easy to resolve.
"Alright, you may leave." With that, the狰狞 (zhengning, meaning ferocious or hideous) face turned into black mist and disappeared from the hall.
Wen Tianren cursed inwardly, but still respectfully said, "Respectfully seeing off Master."
After another dizzying spin, he found himself standing outside the cave. The night breeze caressed his face as he looked up at the starry sky, a long-suppressed smile finally appearing on his lips.