Demonic Cultivator: Immune To Common Side Effects - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Cliff Village—Where Did the Six-Zhang Golden Body Come From?!

Senior Brother Ming Zhe grinned maliciously, confident that the chaos they had orchestrated would kill the newly initiated Junior Brother Li Yan.

Little did they know, Li Yan was fully prepared.

This was his first time activating a spell, and a particularly potent one with severe side effects.

If his hunch was correct, the spell’s side effect would prove to be his deadliest trump card!

Just as he activated the Bloodline Burning Lamp Technique, the System’s voice echoed in his mind:

The host has activated a cultivation technique with side effects. Initiating side effect conversion!

Side Effect: The Bloodline Burning Lamp Technique uses the host’s own blood as fuel to summon crimson demonic light.

Conversion: You will now use the blood of those around you as fuel to ignite the Demon-Quelling Holy Flame.

The instant Li Yan cast the spell, golden light erupted from Senior Brother Ming Zhe and his five companions. The blood beneath their skin began to boil, and they were instantly engulfed in searing pain.

“What’s happening?!”

“Why is my blood boiling?!”

“Where did the Six-Zhang Golden Body come from?!”

The senior brothers and sisters who had plotted Li Yan’s demise screamed in agony.

A bizarre spectacle unfolded.

Six Tranquil Void Temple disciples, radiating malevolent energy just moments before, now glowed with golden holy light.

Under the eerie illumination of the six human pillar lamps, a towering Six-Zhang Golden Body gradually materialized in the heart of the village.

Bathed in holy light, countless Painted Skin Pseudo-Humans emitted piercing wails as white smoke billowed from their bodies.

“It worked! I never imagined igniting their Blood Qi could conjure a Six-Zhang Golden Body!” Li Yan exclaimed, his fingers dancing through hand seals as he eagerly observed the scene unfolding in Cliff Village. The unexpected side effect of the Burning Lamp Evil Technique had yielded such astonishing results, far exceeding his expectations.

Senior Brother Ming Zhe and the others had become his living lampstands. By burning their Blood Qi, he ignited the Demon-Quelling Holy Flame! The six senior brothers and sisters transformed into human pillars of light, projecting a towering Six-Zhang Golden Body that banished the miasma and illuminated the entire village.

Hordes of Painted Skin Pseudo-Humans evaporated in the Holy Flame, leaving behind only shriveled, empty skins. Instantly, the remaining pseudo-humans recoiled in terror, turning tail and fleeing into the depths of the mountains.

Cliff Village fell into eerie silence, save for the six senior brothers and sisters lying on the ground, their lifeblood drained to a trickle. The burning of their Blood Qi had eradicated the Insect Gu implanted within them. But the parasitic insects had long since fused with their hosts’ flesh and blood. With the Gu’s destruction, the riddled, vitality-sapped bodies lost all vitality.

Li Yan glanced down at Ming Zhe lying before him, his body riddled with holes like a lotus root. “I never imagined the Insect Gu could be so insidious,” he murmured, “hollowing out a person’s very flesh until it becomes part of their body.”

“Once the Holy Flame purges the Insect Gu, all that’s left is a rotten, hollowed-out husk.”

Li Yan felt a creeping unease as he stared at the wounds, his scalp tingling and his stomach churning.

Ming Zhe, sprawled on the ground, mustered his last strength to point a trembling finger at Li Yan. “You… what kind of dark art are you using? Why…”

Dark art?

Hearing this, Li Yan couldn’t help but chuckle. He had just activated the Burning Lamp Technique, purifying the Insect Gu within them and bathing their bodies in holy light.

He was the good guy here, cleansing them of the parasites.

The problem was that their flesh and blood had long since fused with the Insect Gu, their vital organs devoured from within. Without the parasites, they had no life left.

“Rest in peace. Ironically, I should thank Senior Brother Ming Zhe for leading me to the Fourth Floor Scripture Repository, where I found this Burning Lamp Technique.”

“Thank you,” Ming Zhe gasped, his voice barely audible.

Under Li Yan’s mocking gaze, Ming Zhe’s eyes widened in death, his face twisted in eternal indignation.

He had never imagined that his scheme to frame Li Yan by leading him to choose forbidden evil arts would backfire so spectacularly. Even in death, he couldn’t comprehend why those cursed cultivation techniques, notorious for their devastating side effects, were now radiating the Demon-Quelling Holy Flame from Li Yan’s hands, illuminating a Six-Zhang Golden Body!

Unfathomable…

Completely unfathomable…

Senior Brother Ming Zhe’s pupils dilated, his body stiffened, and his consciousness faded.

Confirming that all six were dead, Li Yan turned to leave.

Suddenly, right before his eyes, the corpses began to decompose rapidly.

The soil of Cliff Village seemed to come alive, devouring the flesh and blood of the six Senior Brothers and Sisters.

In less than ten breaths, their bodies had dissolved into six White Bone Blood Crystals.

Li Yan gasped. “So anyone who dies here turns into a crystal, their souls trapped inside!”

The sight sent a chill down his spine.

He instinctively lifted his foot, fearing the soil of Cliff Village might “bite” him.

“This Cliff Village… even the mud is this eerie? I shouldn’t linger here any longer. I need to leave as soon as possible.”

“But those White Bone Blood Crystals…”

Li Yan channeled his Blood Qi and used a telekinetic technique to retrieve the six crystals, which floated into his palm.

Within the translucent crystals, the resentful souls of Senior Brother Ming Zhe and the others writhed in agony, like smoke from burning Artemisia.

Yet the potent energy contained within the crystals stirred Li Yan’s ambition.

If he could find a safe place to absorb these White Bone Blood Crystals, his Cultivation Base would undoubtedly advance to the next level!

Li Yan concealed the six crystals in his sleeve and began plotting his next move. He surveyed his surroundings, his gaze settling on the looming Mountain of No Return before him.

The Mountain of No Return was a vast, seemingly endless range composed of countless peaks, stretching as far as the eye could see, like a hundred thousand great mountains.

Should he flee now?

Rushing blindly into these boundless mountains would be reckless. Who knew how many eerie villages like Cliff Village might lurk within?

Li Yan could faintly discern the presence of other Sects in the distance.

But if the Old Daoist of Tranquil Void Temple was using humans for Alchemy, how could the other Sects be any better?

“Fleeing rashly into these mountains would be no different from courting death,” he muttered.

“It’s already late afternoon. Nightfall would only increase the danger. I have no choice but to return to Tranquil Void Temple and devise a long-term plan.”

Clutching his token tightly, Li Yan turned back toward the temple.

As he walked, he practiced the hand seals of the Burning Lamp Technique, his mind racing.

What would happen if he used the Burning Lamp Technique on the Old Daoist, igniting the Insect Gu within his body?

But a hasty move could easily fail, and the consequences would be dire.

Li Yan wouldn’t recklessly court death without sufficient assurance.

“If that old Daoist tries to devour me,” he muttered, “I’ll use the Burning Lamp Technique and fight him to the bitter end. I’ll take things one step at a time.”

He walked back until he spotted Tranquil Void Temple, its peaks shrouded in mist, atop a distant mountain. Only then did he halt.

He found a hidden tree hollow and stashed five of the White Bone Blood Crystals inside. Bringing them all back would be too risky; if that old Daoist Xuanwang seized them, it would all be for naught.

After securing the crystals, Li Yan carried only one White Bone Blood Crystal and continued his trek back to Tranquil Void Temple’s gates.

When his figure appeared outside the temple, the gatekeepers stared wide-eyed.

“Is that him?”

“He went to Cliff Village! How could he possibly be alive?”

“Quickly, report this to Master!”

One of the disciples immediately turned and sprinted into the temple.

“Master! Junior Brother Ming Yan has returned!”

Daoist Xuanwang, seated cross-legged in the courtyard, slowly opened his eyes.

He grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellowed teeth, his laughter laced with sinister amusement. “I knew he’d make it back.”