Way of the Devil

‘I’m already at the feudal lord-rank here even though I’ve only broken through the second atlas?’ Lu Sheng dove into deep thought.

The two great feudal lords’ visit made him understand clearly what his status in these mountains was.

‘This isn’t enough… If I want to roam without scruples and collect the Divine Veins, this strength is far from enough.’ However, Lu Sheng noticed with shock that with his current strength, and if he was being more careful, he would be as powerful as an ordinary Earth Prime cultivator in the Great Yin. However, he was still far away from his goals.

‘I’ll have to continue my secluded cultivation.’ He swept his gaze across his fellow tribesmen around him. He suddenly noticed that the tribesmen appeared thinner than before. In addition to their heavily malnourished appearance, they appeared as if they could flip over and die at any moment.

‘I’ll prepare some food for them first, then I’ll continue my secluded cultivation until I reach my limits.’

He gave it some thought, then he moved his body. A surge of cold air instantly spread out from under his feet. He shot past White Ash and the others with blinding speed.

“Send someone over to carry the food.” With that, Lu Sheng charged into the dense forest immediately. He was heading in the direction of the Poison Dragon Pool. He did not even have to make a move along the way. When he saw anything alive, a surge of cold air would shoot out with a single thought and easily freeze the creatures.

‘The strength and agility of my body has increased, but the greatest quality is still this natural endowment of being able to manipulate the Frost Power at will. The ability of this body to control the cold attribute alone has surpassed many Weapon Masters’ ability.’ Lu Sheng shot past the trees casually as he left frozen heaps of wild creatures of varying sizes behind him.

He only stopped in his tracks when he was about to reach the Poison Dragon Pool.

A few healthy-looking poison dragons were flapping their fleshy wings and eyeing his position covetously.

It was apparent that they had learned about the new frost wolf king of the frost wolf tribe.

Lu Sheng gave them a glance, turned around, and headed back.

He was making a stand.

As expected, a few days later, the Poison Dragon Pool had sent out a poison dragon. After asking about Lu Sheng’s condition in a reverent manner, the poison dragon presented a gift as a peace offering between their two tribes.

In truth, although the poison dragon tribe oppressed the werewolves, they were also protecting them. If it were not for their intimidation, the four-winged iron eagles would have devoured every single werewolf in the village.

After getting used to the new status for a few days, the new frost wolf feudal lord went into seclusion again.

News of his sudden breakthrough had reached the ears of powerful beings further away.

***

“There’s no way a bloodline can be activated to such levels without a cause.”

Within a dark red cave, a huge lizard with blood-red eyes spoke in the common tongue of the mountains with its slow, deep, and confident voice.

“So, that little werewolf must have some treasure on him which enabled him to undergo such substantial changes in such a short period of time.” In the corner of another cave, a huge python with a single silver horn responded in a slow and low female voice.

“Shall we go? We can work together and leave once we get our hands on it. As long as we’re fast enough, the holy dragon’s decree won’t reach us in time,” said the lizard in a thick voice as it flicked its red forked tongue.

The huge snake flicked its forked tongue, and replied, “Let’s go take a look since we have nothing else to do. I’ve already been stuck at the transformation phase for far too long… It’s also been a long time since I’ve last tasted the flesh of a feudal lord.”

***

Ice-cold wind whistled as it kept encircling the mangrove village.

Currently, life in the village was much better than before. A werewolf tribe from the plains that was on the brink of destruction before came to them for shelter once they learned of the birth of a frost wolf king.

This werewolf tribe from the plains numbered around 30 members. Although most of them were bags of bones, they were like a timely delivery of charcoal in winter for the underpopulated mangrove village.

That was not all, for several werewolf tribes from the forest that lived under unforgiving circumstances were also coming to them for shelter.

Lu Sheng became the dignified flag of the werewolves in these mountains.

The village was also cleaned up and put in order. White Ash became the leader, and directed the other werewolves to clean the village. It seemed as if he had become a dozen years younger.

In the wolf king’s earthen hut.

Lu Sheng was on all fours in the center, just like an actual wolf. His eyes were tightly shut. His coat of fur was of an unblemished white.

He was using his spirit to shorten the time his body needed to adapt to the changes. A few days had passed, and it was now time for his next improvement.

Deep Blue’s interface hovered before his eyes.

‘Frost Power Atlas, frost wolf king. (Special traits. Extreme cold strengthening, level one. Snow Wolf Summoning, level one. Ice Roar, level one.)’

‘Let’s start.’ Lu Sheng did not wish to stay in this strange world any longer than need be. The longer he stayed here, the higher the possibility of something going awry in the Great Yin was.

His Mental Energy surged and flowed out of his main body. Then, under Deep Blue’s control, it swiftly seeped into various parts of his body.

Lu Sheng was completely bathed in the dark blue glow. The huge amount of Mental Energy turned into some mysterious force field which accelerated this body’s Frost Power. It started forming a new three-dimensional web-like structure that was completely different compared to before.

This new atlas had no name. Lu Sheng had picked this atlas because it was the least complicated one among the stack of nameless atlases.

Under Deep Blue’s control, Lu Sheng laid down a simple, crude structural layer of Frost Power in his body. Then, like stacking up objects, he kept forming new patterns and structures, which he placed on top of the base.

Some of the Frost Power moved along his vessels, while some crudely penetrated his vessels and bones, forming a completely different structure from his body.

In no time, the setup was complete. A clear Divine Vein slowly surfaced in the center.

An ordinary frost wolf king would have needed a dozen years of diligent cultivation. However, he compressed the entire process into a few breaths.

The frame blurred again. A few breaths later, it became clear.

‘Frost Power atlas. Frost wolf king strengthening, level two. (Special traits. Extreme cold strengthening, level two. Snow Wolf Summoning, level two. Ice Roar, level two.)’

‘I’ve spent four Mental Energy units. This is still within the limits of my body as well. Continue…’

Lu Sheng slowly closed his eyes. The Frost Power atlas’s frame continued to blur and sharpen. He continued to improve it at an extremely high frequency.

He quickly reached level three…

Then, it was level four…

Level five…

Level six…

Lu Sheng’s body suddenly shook. His size was visibly expanding and enlarging.

Level seven…

Level eight…

Level nine…

Without him noticing, his body had grown taller. Before this, he was 178 centimeters tall. Now, he was almost 230 centimeters tall.

Circles of grayish white radiance kept spreading slowly from under his feet. Then, they emanated along some mysterious pathway in a distant direction.

The entire mangrove village was quickly plunged into a harsher cold. The original cold frost tribe had already left the village just as the other tribes had done. They settled down outside the village. Nobody could stand the harsh cold here.

In the center of the village was an area with a diameter of 100 meters. It was flickering with faint white light.

….

A swamp outside the village.

A huge single-horned python rested on a tree as it looked at the strange phenomenon in the village from afar. Its vertical pupils revealed its cruel and greedy thoughts.

At another side, a huge lizard with eyes glowing with the color of blood spread itself out on a trunk. It inverted its body as it looked somewhere far away.

“What a dense aura… His breakthrough was only achieved recently, yet he’s able to stabilize his feudal lord’s rank to such an extent. This treasure is truly…” The huge snake was starting to feel impatient.

“We can’t be careless. Let’s take a look around these parts first. There might be traps or illusions,” said the red-eyed lizard in a calm tone.

“You’re right… No matter how many breakthroughs he achieves, a little feudal lord can’t hope to escape our grasp.” After a slight hesitation, the huge python nodded as well.

….

Level nine…

Level 10…

11…

12…

13…

“Click!”

Lu Sheng suddenly opened his eyes. He saw that he was covered in a thick layer of ice. The surface of the ice layer was filled with dense cracks.

‘Is it complete?’ He quickly looked toward the frame.

‘Frost Power atlas, great frost feudal lord. (Special traits. Extreme cold armor, level one. Frozen Hell, level one. Cold Fear, level one. Higher extreme cold strengthening, level one.)’

‘Great frost feudal lord? So, a rank higher than a feudal lord is a great feudal lord?’ Lu Sheng seemed to be lost in thought. ‘However, it seems that there isn’t much physical strengthening. The improvements are mainly in the art and special abilities. Art and special abilities rely mainly on Spiritual Power, or mental power. That’s not a problem to me. My body can take it as well. Let’s continue. I’d like to see when will I reach the limit.’

Lu Sheng paused shortly and continued to stare at the frame. He pressed the derive button.

The frame blurred and sharpened, blurred and sharpened…

Great feudal lord, level one…

Great feudal lord, level two…

Great feudal lord, level three…

Great feudal lord, level four…

…

In the dense forest outside the village, the single-horned huge python was puzzled. She asked, “Red Ghost, why am I feeling that the cold air is getting stronger inside the village?”

“Really? Could it be that there’s some unknown trap inside the village? Are they trying to harm us, two great feudal lords?” The red-eyed lizard started to ponder about it.

He had been tormented by the traps laid by the humans before. Hence, he was extremely wary when it came to them.

“Let’s take another look around. This little werewolf will stop his breakthroughs sooner or later. When that time comes, we’ll…”

He could not help but snicker.

The huge python also displayed a greedy look.

…..

Great feudal lord, level 11…

Great feudal lord, level 12…

Great feudal lord, level 13…

Great feudal lord, level 14…

“Bam!”

With a crisp sound, the ice a few meters around Lu Sheng exploded. Dark blue Devil Veins slowly surfaced on his body.

His Mental Energy flowed swiftly under his skin. The frame before him had been clear for a long while now. Finally, it blurred again.

An elation he’d never felt before suddenly surged out from the depths of his heart. Lu Sheng curled his body and took up a posture like a newborn baby.

The flesh and blood on his left shoulder was contorting violently. It was as if there was something that wanted to break through his skin from within.

Countless Mental Energy threads surged into that spot from under his skin and all around him.

An unknown period of time passed.

Lu Sheng slowly stretched his limbs. His current five meters tall body was slightly cramped in this earthen hut.

“Pooh!”

A second wolf head popped out from his left shoulder.

“I’ve achieved another breakthrough…”

Lu Sheng caressed the new head on his shoulder.

“I’m finally… at the fairy rank. Next up is the great fairy rank…”

…

Outside the village.

“Look! The cold air has dispersed. This is our chance, let’s go!” the red-eyed lizard immediately shouted.

“The treasure is mine!” The huge python gave a strange laugh. It suddenly increased its pace and charged toward the village.