Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Li Yao touched Jin Xinyue’s left shoulder with his left index finger. Part of his spiritual energy pierced through her flesh and retrieved a drop of blood from her heart.

The drop of blood rolled on his fingertip like a pearl and was soon absorbed into his body.

Li Yao narrowed his eyes and focused his attention on the drop of blood. He magnified the blood while he observed and analyzed wholeheartedly.

A 3D projection was gradually formed deep inside Li Yao’s brain as his soul and the mental devil studied the picture together.

At first glance, Jin Xinyue’s blood was no different from that of other demons. After being significantly magnified, it looked like a translucent, scarlet ocean that was packed with cells resembling jellyfish.

Most of the cells were erythrocytes and leukocytes, like in human beings.

But some other cells had a fuzzy edge, like a drop of ink on a tissue. There seemed to be halos behind them, and countless flagella extended in various directions from such cells.

Those cells were apparently more active than regular cells. They were dashing and jumping without a pattern. Sometimes, they captured a regular cell with their flagella and soon multiplied into two or even four active cells.

They were the demonized cells that were the result of the infection of the Demon God Virus. Such cells were the greatest difference between the demons and human beings.

The cells of human beings, just like those of any other animal, had a stable membrane outside of them that was in charge of the exchange of energy and materials.

But after being infected by the Demon God Virus, the membrane of normal cells would mutate and turn fuzzy and active. Their aggressiveness and fission ability were both significantly improved, too, and they grew thousands of more flagella, which could help the cells grab more materials.

It was with the help of the unbelievable demonized cells that the demons could practice powerful techniques and compete with the crystal suits and crystal warships of human beings with their bodies of flesh and blood.

When Li Yao just arrived in the Dry Leaf Village, he had secretly collected the blood of a lot of villagers for his study, and he had a preliminary understanding about different kinds of demonized cells now.

Huh. What’s this?

Li Yao inwardly frowned. He found a material in Jin Xinyue’s blood that he had never seen before. They were green particles that were infiltrating the demonized cells at an amazing speed.

Within a moment, Jin Xinyue’s demonized cells shrank in size, and the flagella on the cells fell off. A clear membrane reappeared.

The particles were extremely small. Their diameter was only one ten thousandth of the normal demonized cells, the same width of most viruses.

Is this a brand-new virus?

Li Yao commanded the mental devil to retrieve a normal one of Jin Xinyue’s demonized cells and one that had been infected by the green virus.

The greatest difference between the demonized cells and regular cells, except for the flagella on the membrane, was the form and distribution of mitochondria.

Mitochondria was the unit in charge of the production of energy in a cell. It was known as the power source of cells. The structure and efficiency of the mitochondria decided the capability of an expert.

The mitochondria of Cultivators were usually dozens, if not hundreds, of times larger than those of ordinary people. Their percentage in a cell was much higher, too, which allowed the Cultivators to release the immense energy in the blink of an eye or to absorb the energy in lightning and thunder without getting hurt.

The mitochondria of the demons had their unique features, too. Except for their large size, there were bumps and dents all over them, making them uneven like cerebra.

As a result, the coverage of the mitochondria would be significantly larger than regular mitochondria, and their efficiency to generate energy would be higher, too. It was with the mutated mitochondria that the demons created the unpredictable, mysterious ‘demonic energy’.

According to Li Yao’s observation, inside Jin Xinyue’s first demonized cell, the mitochondria were indeed full of bumps and dents, but the unevenness of the other demonized cell that had been infected by the green virus was gone!

The surface of the mitochondria inside the second cell was smooth, and the membrane was clear without the slightest trace of flagella. After being infected by the green virus, the demonized cells became no different from the cells of human beings!

Right then, the demonized cell that was infected spurted out countless green particles, which penetrated through the membrane easily and spread out.

In the beginning, there was only one green particle, but in a few minutes, there were already hundreds of them.

Soon, as the number of the green particles grew larger and larger, most of Jin Xinyue’s demonized cells had been transformed into regular cells.

Five minutes later, the drop of blood collected from a saintess of the demons was no different from the blood of a human being.

What—what the heck?

Li Yao was dumbfounded. He vaguely felt that he was onto something groundbreaking.

When he looked at Jin Xinyue again, she had finally calmed down after struggling in pain for quite a few hours. However, her long wings had been mostly folded back into her body. Looking from the side, she was just a random human girl!

Li Yao swallowed hard and collected another few drops of her blood for analysis.

This time, all the demonized cells inside her blood were gone; they were just like the regular cells of human beings now!

So, the weird green virus can turn a demon into a human being?

Li Yao felt a headache coming on.

The high-level demons often boasted the ‘polymorphing’ ability, which allowed them to hide their demonic features and pretend to be human beings.

But it was only a change of appearance. A lot of demonized cells were still inside their body.

In the Heaven’s Origin Sector, it was with multiple examinations of the blood, hair, and excrement that human beings identified the spies of the demon race. It almost never failed.

But right now, a demon had turned into a human being from head to toe and from outside to inside right in front of Li Yao’s eyes!

How could he not be shocked?

Li Yao was not sure if the transformation was reversible. Would she turn back into a demon after a while, or would she stay as a human being forever?

Either way, the elder of the Blade of Chaos was quite right. The secret treasure could indeed completely change the future of the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector!

What if countless experts of the Blood Demon Sector snuck into the Heaven’s Origin Sector after turning themselves into human beings in such a way?

Or rather, had they already done it? Did a lot of demons already go to the Heaven’s Origin Sector decades ago, live as human beings, and even rise to power in the federation?

The demon race boasts the polymorphing ability. If their cells are no different from those of human beings, what is the essential difference between human beings and demons?

Who are human beings, and who are demons? What are human beings, and what are demons?

Watching the last feather on Jin Xinyue’s body gradually fade away, Li Yao was deep in thought.

…

Maybe the transformation into a human being was too exhausting for her soul and physical strength, but Jin Xinyue did not wake up until three hours later.

The excruciating pain deep to her bones and the weird feeling of her back leaning the ground immediately reminded her of the bad situation she was in. After she triggered her soul power and summoned her demonic energy, she felt that her body was empty. All her strength seemed to have been sealed, and she could not access any of it.

Jin Xinyue immediately recalled the terrifying eye before she fell into coma.

She shuddered in a chill.

It was the last meaningless movement she allowed herself to make.

As a saintess who had received the harshest training in the Pantheon of Demons from a young age, Jin Xinyue did not waste a single second in useless fear or complaint. She immediately started thinking of ways to escape and reverse the situation.

Since she had not yet been killed, she still had a chance.

Jin Xinyue sat straight and observed her surroundings calmly.

It was a shabby cave with the sounds of rushing torrents outside, indicating that the cave was behind a waterfall.

Dry branches were piled up messily on the ground. More than ten holes had been dug on the wall in which some simple tools were kept.

The tools made Jin Xinyue’s pupils constrict violently. She almost exclaimed loudly.

Fangs of the Purple Jade Phantom Poison Spiders!

Tails of the Purple Cloud Mystic Electric Birds!

The spine of the Desert Wild Wolves!

Jin Xinyue felt like her blood was freezing. They were the only three items that she could recognize among the dozens of tools. But they were all invaluable treasures from the ancient demon beasts more than thirty thousand years ago.

Even though her father was the monarch of the Gold Crow Kingdom and one of the twelve demon emperors, he did not have too many files regarding the ancient demon beasts, either. She had only seen similar illustrations in the ancient classics that her father treasured.

Although she did not know the specific names of the rest of the materials and scraps of ancient magical equipment, she could tell that the vintage feeling of the objects could not have been achieved without withstanding the test of time.

Any of the invaluable treasures would raise a riot in the auctions outside, but the mysterious demon is just stuffing them into the holes on the wall randomly as if they are garbage?

He is so strong, yet he was lurking in a remote mountain village and does not care for the materials of ancient demon beasts and the scraps of ancient magical equipment. Who is he exactly?

Trying to hold back her pain, Jin Xinyue took a deep breath and sorted through all the information she knew.

She was on a mission to hunt the remnants of the Blade of Chaos. The real purpose of the mission was a top secret. There should not have been a third force other than Elder Nether Spring that knew of it.

The mysterious demon was certainly not a member of the Blade of Chaos. Otherwise, he could have taken the item away long before she arrived.

He did not belong to the Blade of Chaos, Elder Nether Spring, or her father’s subordinates, but he had hidden in the mountain village half a month in advance?

Was it possible that she had gotten the whole thing wrong and that the stranger had nothing to do with her mission but ran into her by accident?

Right then, the water sound out of the cave was lowered. A slender shadow entered the cave and moved toward her unhurriedly.

Jin Xinyue’s heart shivered. She was unwilling to face the weird, bloody eye again, but the stranger had stopped right in front of her. She could only struggle to raise her head.

Thankfully, the left eye and the left arm of the stranger were tied up in bandages.

However, the better they were concealed, the creepier Jin Xinyue felt. She could not help but imagine how terrifying and mysterious the bloody eye behind the bandage was!

Inside the narrow cave behind the waterfall, the princess of the Gold Crow Kingdom and the saintess of the Pantheon of Demons shuddered uncontrollably.