Are There Only Demonesses Left in the Cultivation Realm?

With a dull thud.

Lu Changyuan’s Spirit Body instantly dispersed like smoke. But in the next moment, the surrounding Nether Qi rippled, and the ethereal figure re-formed out of the void. He stood in place, completely unharmed, as if he had never been attacked.

"You can’t kill me. This is the Netherworld."

Though he said that, Lu Changyuan was now just a Spirit, with almost no way to reclaim his body from the Desire Demon.

The Desire Demon truly couldn’t kill him, but it had already taken Lu Changyuan’s body. There was no need to kill Lu Changyuan. As long as it finished walking the road of death, it could leave this place.

Now that the Desire Demon had become Lu Changyuan and possessed his body, it could take its time, even if it couldn’t finish the road of death right away.

After a few decades or a century, it would eventually get out.

As for Lu Changyuan, this single Thought could only remain on the road of death forever, losing his true nature under the long-term corrosion of the deathly aura.

The Desire Demon understood this, so it ignored Lu Changyuan and slowly started walking down the road of death.

Lu Changyuan’s tone was mocking. "So heartless? After all, you and I are old acquaintances. Aren’t you curious why, even though I was so weak, I could still resist your corruption for a while?"

In the very beginning, Lu Changyuan hadn’t used the Moon Gnomon, yet he was still able to maintain his consciousness.

This was indeed strange, but the Desire Demon had simply assumed this was the level of strength Lu Changyuan ought to have.

A bone-chillingly cold wind suddenly gusted down the road of death.

The Desire Demon froze, trapped in place, unable to take a single step.

Lu Changyuan’s voice drifted in and out. "Finally figured it out? My body might not have the Supreme Pure Spirit Forget Immortal Technique anymore, but there’s something else inside."

The Desire Demon’s body twisted again, and it shrieked as if it had discovered something utterly bizarre.

Lu Changyuan, however, spoke unhurriedly. "Did you really think I made no preparations? Did you think that just by giving me the memory of a game, I wouldn’t suspect the bloody words in my eyes?"

What a joke.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch in the Cultivation Realm.

The Desire Demon struggled, even rolling back and forth on the road of death.

It wanted to leave Lu Changyuan’s body.

But it found that the decision was no longer its to make.

"You can’t escape."

Lu Changyuan’s laughter rang out. "Have you ever wondered why I didn’t re-cultivate the Supreme Pure Spirit Forget Immortal Technique after I destroyed it?"

Lu Changyuan had already cultivated this supreme Heart Method to its peak, abandoning it by weathering a Celestial Tribulation. But abandoning it didn’t mean he couldn’t re-cultivate it.

As the creator of this Cultivation Technique, it wouldn’t have been difficult for Lu Changyuan to start over—at least, the initial stages wouldn’t have been.

Yet from the moment the Supreme Pure Spirit Forget Immortal Technique was shattered until he entered the Netherworld, Lu Changyuan had shown no intention of re-cultivating it.

"When the Nether River hung inverted in my eyes, I saw a sea of nothingness."

The sound of dripping rain seemed to match the rhythm of his speech, lending his voice a sinister quality.

"Just as I predicted. The Dao I wish to cultivate is Nothingness, and the essence of Nothingness is to devour all that exists."

The Desire Demon was still struggling.

It had plotted for a century, wrestled victory from the Celestial Dao, and finally found the perfect vessel, smuggling itself over only to discover this body had become its own personal prison.

It couldn’t go back.

It couldn’t return to Beyond the Heavens.

’What exactly happened?’

"Don’t be so angry. It’s not like this can kill you anyway. Why not just consider this part of your main body a gift to me?"

As long as the desires of Cultivators exist, the Desire Demon can never die.

Lu Changyuan smiled faintly. "I also have the Nether Monarch to thank. I was originally planning to spend another century here, slowly devouring you before leaving. Now it seems it won’t be so troublesome."

The Desire Demon finally understood. It had been tricked.

While it had been scheming against Lu Changyuan, Lu Changyuan had been scheming against it as well.

It wanted to devour Lu Changyuan.

And Lu Changyuan wanted to devour it, too.

A strange suction force locked it down. The Desire Demon was formed from the Five Desires of humankind, but now these Five Desires were being broken down inch by inch, absorbed bit by bit into Lu Changyuan’s body.

A Cultivation Technique was operating on its own inside this body.

"I used to cultivate the Supreme Pure Spirit Forget Immortal Technique, a path of Desire Destruction. I’m done with that now. I think I’ll see what the path of Desire Release looks like."

If Lu Changyuan had a physical body, the Desire Demon would have seen that his eyes were blood-red, making him look more like a Desire Demon than it did.

"As it happens, I know how to create a new Desire Relief Technique. Oh, by the way, what do you think this technique should be called?"

The mocking voice continued, "I haven’t named this Dharma yet. Since it was stripped from you, you should have naming rights."

DING DONG, DING DONG.

Lu Changyuan’s laughter was incredibly jarring.

Back in the Upper Jade Capital, Lu Changyuan had already begun to reverse-cultivate the Supreme Pure Spirit Forget Immortal Technique. As the world’s strongest Desire Destruction Technique, the new technique produced from its reversal was just as frighteningly powerful.

The purpose of the Supreme Pure Spirit Forget Immortal Technique was to render one impervious to all demons and keep the Spirit Platform clear and bright.

So what about reverse-cultivating it?

Naturally, it was to devour all the desires in the world!

When the Desire Demon first descended into Lu Changyuan’s body, it didn’t notice anything wrong. It just assumed Lu Changyuan was resisting it. It was only when Lu Changyuan left the body that it suddenly realized this body was actually devouring "desire" itself.

Originally, Lu Changyuan’s plan was to remain in his body, fighting the Desire Demon while simultaneously devouring it. But now that the Nether Monarch had given him such convenient authority, he could leap out of his body and unleash the Cultivation Technique to its fullest extent.

This was, naturally, not good news for the Desire Demon.

A chewing sound abruptly echoed in the darkness.

CRUNCH.

CRUNCH.

It sounded like Lu Changyuan was chewing on something. He murmured, "I shall use you as the foundation for my new technique."

Reverse-cultivated from the Supreme Pure Spirit Forget Immortal Technique, and using the Desire Demon as its operational principle, the second-strongest Heart Method in the Mortal World was born.

The Five Desires and Six Dust Heart Transformation Technique

The Five Desires burn the heart like a house on fire; the Six Dusts blind the eyes like a hazy cloud.

Refine the Spirit Platform to the realm of Bodhi; plant a lotus in the fire, reflected upon the Mirror Platform.