A month later, the matter of the Heavenly Demon was settled. The Dajing Court dispatched three Daylight Level Awakeners to jointly attack the Heavenly Demon. They succeeded, but at the cost of one death, one grievous injury, and one minor injury. However, they failed to retain the Heavenly Demon’s corpse; after its death, the Demon Corpse disintegrated into endless black smoke that spread throughout the world. The Court was actively trying to clean it up, unaware of what use this black smoke might serve.
Wang Linchi, however, knew something about this. Damn it, this Heavenly Demon causes trouble even in death, he thought, his expression grim. Content originally comes from NoveI[F]ire.net
After the Heavenly Demon’s death, it left behind The Heritage of the Sky Devil. However, it wasn’t complete; everyone who obtained a part of it only received a fragment. For instance, Wang Linchi received a Magical Artifact inheritance known as the Demon Blood Knife, which enabled him to forge magical artifacts. Of course, "Magical Artifact" was the old term. When this part of The Heritage of the Sky Devil was assimilated by the world, it transformed and was now considered a Soul Device. The Cultivation Techniques within The Heritage of the Sky Devil were likely converted into Soul Forging Methods, and Spells into Soul Skills. This Demon Blood Knife wasn’t really a knife, but more akin to a dagger.
This Demon Blood Knife has inherent restrictions... no, wait. If its grade were higher, it would possess Spatial Abilities that could easily break the restrictions of Secret Realms, Wang Linchi mused. The only problem is that forging it isn’t easy.
Named the Demon Blood Knife, its forging required human blood. Wang Linchi quickly abandoned the idea, as the result wasn’t worth the cost. The main issue was that different parts of The Heritage of the Sky Devil attracted each other. Anyone possessing a fragment would inevitably be drawn to others for various reasons, leading to battles to complete their portion of The Heritage. Killing another person who possessed a part of The Heritage of the Sky Devil would allow one to claim all of their fragments, eventually restoring the complete Heritage of the Sky Devil. There seemed to be some kind of karmic destiny involved in this.
The good news was that Wang Linchi had successfully used his Soul Kind to separate The Heritage of the Sky Devil from himself. The bad news was, he had no idea where to dispose of it. He didn’t know how many fragments The Heritage of the Sky Devil had shattered into, but he was certain it would cause a storm of blood. More importantly, he suspected that it wasn’t just the Demon Blood Knife that could allow the original inhabitants of Secret Realms to emerge; other fragments of The Heritage of the Sky Devil likely had similar capabilities.
Furthermore, cultivating this heritage didn’t require a Soul Resemblance, meaning ordinary people could grow stronger by obtaining it. Because this bypassed the Dajing Court’s monopoly, the situation became even more treacherous. For Awakeners to grow stronger, aside from Soul Forging Methods and Soul Secret Techniques, all other necessary resources could only be obtained from Secret Realms. However, if one switched to cultivating The Heritage of the Sky Devil, the only resource needed was people. And in the Dajing Dynasty, people were the one thing not in short supply.
Although the Demon Blood Knife was just a Soul Device, beyond its forging method, it also came with techniques for control, power feedback, and more. By devouring human vital essence, the Demon Blood Knife would not only grow stronger itself, but at each stage of its growth, it would also channel power back to its wielder, enhancing their strength. It meant that one could continuously grow stronger simply through mindless killing. Another crucial point: after being assimilated and transforming from a Magical Artifact into a Soul Device, it lost its original master-devouring ability.
If not for the difficulty in obtaining the raw materials and the immense commotion killing would cause, Wang Linchi might have considered forging a Demon Blood Knife for himself.
I need to get rid of this Heritage of the Sky Devil as soon as possible, Wang Linchi mused. But who should I give it to? In his view, it would be disastrous if the Evil Cult Forces backed by Secret Realms, or even ordinary commoners, obtained it, let alone disciples from Great Families or Sects. With a new way to bypass the Dajing Court’s monopoly and break class barriers emerging—especially one that offered such rapid advancement—the world was likely on the brink of chaos.
According to my original plan, I could just give it to Yan Ming King. He’s not afraid of trouble. But I haven’t seen him these past few days, and he’s been stirring up so much unrest in Lixi Prefecture, causing trouble everywhere. If I contacted him now and someone with ulterior motives discovered our connection, I could face retaliation. So, he quickly discarded that option.
As for waiting for Yan Ming King to come to me, I have no idea when that would be. What if other Demonic Inheritance Successors find me first? I might not even be able to defeat them. So, the best solution is to find some unsuspecting unlucky soul to take the fall. Whatever happens to them afterward has little to do with me, as long as I’m not affected.
There was a downside, though. Once he gave away The Heritage of the Sky Devil, he wouldn’t be able to forge the Demon Blood Knife Soul Device. Even though he had the memories of how to do it, any attempt based on memory alone would only result in a piece of scrap metal. The primary reason was that the Demon Blood Knife relied on The Heritage of the Sky Devil. Wang Linchi suspected that if The Heritage of the Sky Devil were fully restored and then assimilated by the world, it would become a Mythology level Soul Kind. So, this fragment I have must be part of that Soul Kind. Otherwise, it’s inexplicable why I can’t forge the knife despite having the relevant memories. It was precisely because he lacked that crucial component.
Wang Linchi didn’t covet The Heritage of the Sky Devil. Yes, if I were to go out, craft the Demon Blood Knife, and then go on a mindless killing spree, my strength would indeed skyrocket. But other Demonic Inheritance Successors could do the same. More importantly, what if I encounter those who are more capable, with stronger backgrounds and greater power? They could rely on their own strength and connections to kill indiscriminately without repercussions. I can’t; I’d be hunted by the Dajing Court. The world might be about to descend into chaos, but it hasn’t yet. Fishing in troubled waters has to wait until the water actually becomes murky.
After carefully sealing The Heritage of the Sky Devil, Wang Linchi took it to the black market. Lixi Prefecture naturally had a black market. Unlike others, this one operated quite openly, completely disregarding the Court’s authority. Wang Linchi became increasingly certain that the people behind this black market had connections that reached the highest levels.
Finding an empty stall, Wang Linchi sat down and laid out various items: Soul Kinds, Soul Devices, and Natural Treasures he had no use for—all spoils from the Gigantic Secret Realm. Through many small transactions, he had converted all his unwanted items into various resources, such as Soul Skills, Soul Forging Methods, books, and materials. He mostly used these items to draw analogies and understand related concepts. This included things like potion concoction and Elixir refining. Simply consuming Natural Treasures wouldn’t allow their effects to be fully utilized. However, by combining them synergistically with other Natural Treasures, absorption and conversion efficiency could be maximized, thereby enhancing cultivation speed.
His strength was considerable. Recently, by turning the tables on Awakeners who tried to ambush him, he had steadily increased his wealth. Murder and robbery were indeed quick ways to get rich. However, Wang Linchi was strongly averse to such methods, mainly due to the risks involved. But when people were trying to kill him, he couldn’t just let them go, could he? So, he could only, with a heavy heart, fight back and loot their corpses.
As for The Heritage of the Sky Devil, he had placed it inside a Soul Kind, which he now offered for sale at a low price. He just had to wait and see which unlucky fool would buy it.
Just as Wang Linchi was thinking this, someone crouched down, pointed at the Soul Kind containing The Heritage of the Sky Devil, and asked, "This Excellent Level Soul Kind of yours, why is the price so low? Is there something wrong with it?"
"Yes, there is. I found that out when I looted it off a corpse," Wang Linchi stated bluntly, admitting he had plundered it.
The person didn’t seem to care that it came from a corpse and asked, "What’s the problem?"
"I don’t know. Buy it if you want it; if not, don’t block my stall," Wang Linchi replied, his tone impatient.
"I’ll take it." The man bought it immediately, clearly intending to use it to scam someone else. Why else buy a Soul Kind with a known problem? There were plenty of such people, so Wang Linchi paid it no mind and completed the transaction smoothly. A bad attitude didn’t matter; it was common in the black market. He had already said it was problematic. Why keep prying into what the issue was? If he could fix it, he wouldn’t be selling it cheap.
In the black market, everyone concealed their true identities to engage in shady dealings, so prying was the biggest taboo. As for buying stolen goods or being swindled, that was your own fault for lacking discernment. Fighting and killing were forbidden in the black market, but there were no rules against fraud. Of course, once you left the black market, whatever happened outside—be it ambushes or anything else—the black market wouldn’t interfere. The black market wasn’t worried about losing credibility either. It primarily served as a place for people to sell off illicit goods. Everyone who came here was breaking the law in some way; what fairness or justice could one expect?
Seeing that the first item he sold was The Heritage of the Sky Devil, Wang Linchi could only hope the buyer wouldn’t use it to scam others. Otherwise, the buyer would likely be the one getting scammed. After all, it was still The Heritage of the Sky Devil, and its power was extraordinary.