I Swear I’m Not a Demonic Cultivator - Chapter 12
Chapter 12: The Ancestor’s Gift
Demon Sealing Pagoda, Second Floor
No demonic beasts, no roars.
Only deathly silence.
And in the center, a withered skeleton, firmly pinned to the ground by nine arm-thick golden chains.
Mysterious runes flowed across the chains, radiating the pure, righteous aura of the Azure Cloud Sect.
These were the Azure Cloud Sect’s Demon-Suppressing Golden Chains, specifically designed to restrain ancestors who had fallen into demonic possession.
The moment Fang Zheng’s Myriad Ghosts Undying Body’s aura pierced through the floorboards and surged upward, two orbs of soul fire, dormant in the skeleton’s eye sockets for five hundred years, suddenly flared to life!
“Hmm?”
An ancient, frail consciousness stirred from its slumber.
He was a Divine Transformation Ancestor of the Azure Cloud Sect from five centuries past. Having forcibly cultivated forbidden techniques, he was devoured by his Heart Demon and voluntarily imprisoned himself here. In his remnant soul form, he waged an eternal battle against the Demon, guarding the Sect.
For five hundred years, his only companions had been endless solitude and the corrosive whispers of the Demon.
But today, he sensed something utterly different.
A Dao Heart so pure that it moved even his remnant soul!
That Dao Heart was like an uncarved jade, pure, unwavering, and steadfast in its belief in the simplest virtues: “goodness” and “diligence.”
It was like a ray of light piercing through the darkness.
The Remnant Soul Ancestor’s soul fire flickered with joy.
We have a successor! My Azure Cloud Sect has a successor!
But the joy lasted less than a breath.
Immediately following that pure Dao Heart came a cataclysmic Demonic Might, potent enough to obliterate his very soul!
What is this aura?
Not Demonic Energy, yet more terrifying than Demonic Energy!
It was a Power of Laws forged from the purest hatred, death, and despair—a Demon of Demons capable of corrupting the entire continent!
How could a disciple with such a pure Dao Heart cultivate such an earth-shattering Demonic Cultivation Technique?!
The Remnant Soul Ancestor’s consciousness plunged into utter chaos and shock.
He couldn’t comprehend it.
But he knew he couldn’t let this disciple continue down this path!
This child has strayed!
I must… I must bring him back!
The Remnant Soul Ancestor hesitated no longer. He ignited his remaining Primordial Soul Power, condensing it into a Divine Sense—the purest, gentlest Divine Sense.
This Divine Sense contained no aggression, no coercion.
It was the most earnest plea from an elder to a junior, born from five centuries of enlightenment on the “righteous path.”
“Stop!”
“Child, you cultivate not the true Dharma! Turn back before it’s too late!”
The Divine Sense pierced through the floor, flying directly toward Fang Zheng’s mind with pinpoint accuracy.
He intended to use his own Dao, his very being, to awaken the boy’s true nature and save his future!
But just as that compassionate Divine Sense was about to touch Fang Zheng’s consciousness…
The System’s cold, mechanical voice blared abruptly:
Ding! Warning! Detecting an “Unwilling Obsession” with cores of “negation” and “distortion” attempting to corrupt the Host’s Dao Heart!
Judgment: High Tier mental attack!
Activating “Myriad Ghosts Undying Body” passive defense mechanism: “Vengeful Power Devour”!
Before the System could finish speaking…
Fang Zheng’s “holy armor,” composed of three hundred and twenty-eight Ghost Face Totems, sprang to life!
On his chest, the Wailing Mouth Totem, forcibly branded there, gaped wide!
No defense!
No parry!
It lunged at the incoming, benevolent Divine Sense like a beggar who hadn’t eaten in two and a half years spotting a drumstick…
And devoured it whole!
Burp!
A satisfied burp echoed from Fang Zheng’s body.
The pure Divine Sense, infused with the Divine Transformation Ancestor’s lifelong insights, vanished without a ripple, instantly digested as top-tier nourishment!
But the devouring was only the beginning.
Divine Sense has a source.
After swallowing the Divine Sense, the Wailing Mouth Totem precisely locked onto its origin.
In the next instant, a savage, insatiable devouring force surged back along the path the Divine Sense had taken!
Second floor of the Demon Sealing Pagoda.
The Remnant Soul Ancestor’s consciousness froze completely.
He sensed his Divine Sense sinking like a stone into the sea.
Then, an indescribable, terrifying suction surged up from below, clamping down on his soul!
This wasn’t a spar, not a battle of techniques, but… predation!
The thing below was treating him as food, draining him dry!
“What are you doing~ Ouch~!”
Helpless, the Remnant Soul Ancestor began to struggle.
He tried to sever the connection, but who could have imagined such a thing? The sucking force, imbued with an inexorable Power of Laws, pinned his soul to that ravenous maw like countless nails driven deep.
Before his eyes, the Primordial Soul Power he had painstakingly cultivated for five centuries to combat his Heart Demon was now being frantically drained and devoured by the monster below, like a flood released from its dam.
His soul fire flickered violently, its brilliance fading erratically.
His consciousness began to blur.
In that moment, the truth finally dawned on him.
The creature below wasn’t some misguided junior disciple who had strayed from the Dao.
It was a peerless Demon, clad in human skin and masquerading as a saintly heart!
His actions hadn’t been acts of salvation.
They had been… feeding time!
In the final instant before his consciousness completely dissolved, the Remnant Soul Ancestor mustered his last shred of strength, unleashing the most desperate yet clearest cry of his life.
“Madman!”
“You… are the true Demon!!!”
That despairing roar, along with his final wisp of soul power, was sucked dry by that ravenous maw.
Downstairs.
Fang Zheng slowly opened his eyes, feeling refreshed and invigorated, his entire body relaxed and at ease.
A surge of pure energy, far greater than before, coursed through him, instantly stabilizing his newly formed Myriad Ghosts Undying Body and even refining it further.
He could sense that moments ago, a consciousness brimming with “unwillingness” and “confusion” had attempted to influence him.
But, drawn by the radiant Great Righteous Qi within him, the lost soul had found its way back to clarity!
Fang Zheng could almost “hear” the relieved “cry” of that elder before it dissipated.
He must have finally been freed from endless suffering!
A contented smile spread across Fang Zheng’s face.
He solemnly cupped his hands in a respectful salute toward the ceiling.
“Senior, may you rest in peace.”
“It seems my righteous Dao has successfully purified this lingering obsession.”
“In its final moment, it chose to bestow its remaining strength upon me, helping me continue walking this righteous path.”
The more he pondered it, the more logical it seemed. His heart filled with reverence for this senior he had never met.
This senior… truly a good person.