<<Previous Chapter | I Am the Fated Villain | Next Chapter>>
Translator: Fate
Translation Checker: Silavin
Ah Man did not truly come from the Primitives, and her Demonic Heart was still dormant.
She had never been aware of her innate Talent.
Up until this point, it was both luck and her own continued efforts that allowed her to cultivate the techniques of the Primitives to such an extent.
“How can you save your settlement and your Adoptive Father if you can’t even bear a little bit of pain?” Gu Changge’s eyes did not flicker. He did not show any sympathy for her in spite of her young age. In his eyes, he was already being exceedingly benevolent by showing Ah Man her future and letting her be prepared for it.
The events in the future that Ah Man would have had to go through if he had not shown up were the ones that were truly cruel and terrifying.
“Rest assured, Senior. I can take it.” Ah Man was clenching her jaw. Her forehead was covered in sweat. All the colour had drained out of her face. She was curled up on the ground with her entire body trembling.
It was the pain of having one’s meridians reformed. It felt like all her organs were being ripped apart before getting pieced back together. She remained awake throughout the entire process. She endured the agonising experience while fully conscious. It felt as if all her bones had been shattered and all her flesh had been ripped to shreds. Not a single part of her had been left whole.
“This is the process of shaping your foundation. Although it can’t lead to rebirth through the baptism of fire, it will restore the foundation that you have wasted all these years back to its original state. After all, how can a wonderful diamond in the rough be refined with such crude cultivation techniques?” Gu Changge shook his head. Upon seeing that Ah Man was about to faint from the pain, he tapped his finger between her brows.
All at once, her hazy consciousness regained full clarity.
Naturally, it was accompanied by an even more terrifying bout of pain that was over a hundred times more excruciating than it was earlier.
Even she who was always tough and steely could not help but groan in pain. She bit her lips so hard that they began to bleed, and the blood dripped onto the ground.
“You Will is indeed far superior to that of an ordinary person. Even cultivators of this world who have reached the seventh or eighth level would have passed out by now. And yet, you are still conscious.”
The process was more or less complete. Gu Changge flicked his hand and a hazy sphere of dark light shrouded Ah Man.
“S-Senior… I can still take it.” Ah Man felt her entire body becoming lighter. It was as if she had been lifted from Hell and brought up to Heaven.
Nevertheless, she gritted her teeth and staunchly declared her resolve with determined eyes.
Gu Changge eyed her and said coolly, “That won’t be necessary. Your body can only be refined till this level. This world does not have any Primordial Energy so you can’t overcome your Innate Physique at the moment. But, with your Demonic Heart, you’ll be able to have a complete transformation later on. Your Physique won’t be the deciding factor to your future heights. In short, this is enough for the current you…”
Ah Man was a little dazed as she took it all in. Although she could not fully grasp everything, she understood a thing or two.
She sensed the loss of all her cultivation, but at the same time, her body was filled with limitless strength.
“Is this the power of the Demonic Heart that Senior spoke of?” Ah Man could not help but murmur.
Gu Changge did not explain anything. He simply glanced at her and said, “Go and wash up.”
It was only then that Ah Man realized that at some point, she had ended up covered in blood and some unidentifiable black stains. The stench was extremely foul. It was as if she had been fished out of the gutter.
She felt incredibly embarrassed. She was a young woman in her teens and cared a lot about cleanliness, so naturally, she felt shy about her state.
Ah Man went inside and gathered a set of clean clothes before heading deep into the mountain.
Gu Changge shook his head and estimated how long he would have to remain in this world.
He did not intend to stay here for long. After all, he was only here to find a suitable Successor.
He would leave once Ah Man seemed strong enough to stand on her own two feet.
Even though he left an Avatar of himself at the Immortal Domain and the Upper Realm, there were still things he needed to do with his True Body.
Through his Avatar, he received a report from Xiao Ruoyin.
Chan Hongyi and Tao Yao had gone to the Sanctum of Destiny and borrowed the Celestial Boat of Creation.
Gu Changge was a little taken aback. He deduced that they wanted to attempt a journey across the River of Time and head back to the Forbidden Epoch to understand the truth and the secrets of that time.
However, the Forbidden Epoch was segmented off in history and lost in the River of Time. Even Gu Changge himself could not determine its exact location.
The two of them had left in haste and their chances of finding the exact location were uncertain. Even if they managed to find it, all they would come across were the incomplete Fragments of Time. They would not be able to witness the events of the Forbidden Epoch.
Furthermore, during this process, they could encounter unexpected situations and suffer from backlash.
“If they do stumble across the supposed truth…” Gu Changge considered the situation and figured he could use this chance to keep Chan Hongyi and Tao Yao trapped in the past so that his plans would not be affected.
Meanwhile, deep in the back of the mountain, Ah Man was flitting through the forest like an agile cheetah with her clothes in hand.
At last, she came to a secluded pool of water.
This was a great distance away from her courtyard and the location was well-hidden. It took her a great deal of time to find this place back then.
In the past, she would come here whenever she needed to wash her clothes and such.
However, when Ah Man saw her reflection in the water, she froze in shock. She could barely recognise the grimy young woman who was giving off a foul smell.
With a loud splash, she jumped into the water and quickly washed herself.
The surface of the crystal-clear water was shimmering. Only Ah Man’s head remained above the water. She had a look of confusion and seemed to be caught up in her own world.
Everything had only just happened. But, to Ah Man, it felt as if many years had passed. The entire situation had become so deeply etched into her memory.
[What is a Demonic Heart? Who is that mysterious Senior? Is he a good person or a bad one? Did he really choose me because I have a Demonic Heart? If so, what is he choosing me for?] Ah Man could not help but murmur some of the questions that flooded her mind.
It was almost two hours later when Gu Changge finally saw Ah Man returning to the courtyard.
Her hair was still wet. She was wearing a loose robe. She had delicate features and her face seemed to only be the size of a palm.
Because her physique had been reformed, her skin had become even fairer and more radiant. She looked like a flawless jade or a sheet of untouched snow.
She was half a head taller than the average woman. Her legs were unusually long and slender, making her look like an exquisite sculpture. She was like a young and innocent Princess.
Gu Changge’s gaze rested on her for a moment, and following a light nod, he tossed a cultivation technique to her.
“What’s this, Senior?” Ah Man quickly caught the jade tablet and looked at it. It looked like it was made of bamboo. The surface glistened like an emerald and gave off a soft glow.
“It’s a cultivation technique that will allow you to transform as if you have been reborn,” Gu Changge said casually. “It doesn’t have a name.”
Ah Man was a little shocked as she read through the contents.
While she could read the words, she could not find a name for this cultivation technique.
“That’s because I haven’t named it yet. You can call it the Nameless Technique,” Gu Changge said.
Techniques that were suitable to cultivate a Demonic Heart did not exist in this world. For the sake of allowing Ah Man to grow stronger, he combined the Devouring Demonic Arts with many Forbidden Techniques to create this cultivation technique for her.
“Fortuity…” Ah Man nodded thoughtfully as she noticed the word that came up the most on the jade tablet.
Nevertheless, for now, she could only garner a basic understanding of what was described. The deeper meanings eluded her and she could not even read them as her eyes would start stinging if she tried.
She could sense that the technique Gu Changge created at the drop of a hat was far more mysterious and profound than the Primeval Deity Technique she cultivated.
There were fundamental differences between them.
With that thought in mind, Ah Man bowed solemnly. “Thank you for imparting this technique to me, Senior. Ah Man won’t let you down.”
“You don’t need to thank me. We’re both just taking what we need. You don’t need to feel grateful towards me. I don’t need that. All you need to remember is that you will pay the price of your decision in the future. I won’t harm you, but I’m not helping you for no reason either. You can think of it as a deal I’ve struck with you, but the price you’ll need to pay is your future,” Gu Changge glanced at her and said coolly.
Ah Man nodded. She knew that miracles would not fall out of the sky. The fact that Gu Changge was declaring this outright to her made her feel a lot more at ease. She was not as worried as she had been earlier.
“Either way, you’re the one who gave me this opportunity, Senior.” Ah Man spoke with a look of determination. She did not know what Gu Changge meant by saying that she would pay for this with her future. However, she could sense that Gu Changge did not come here to harm her.
That was an extremely important factor.
Furthermore, he even told her about her future, taught her a cultivation technique, and helped her transform her Physique.
“Cultivators must never be ruled by their emotions. There are times when drawing your own conclusions is a bad idea. Don’t think of me as some benevolent being. Perhaps there might come a day when you regret the decision you made today.”
Gu Changge seemed to have deduced what Ah Man was thinking. He could not resist chuckling.
Ah Man was startled. Then, she lowered her eyes and said, “I understand. Thank you for your guidance, Senior.”
The mountain peak could not be considered large. It was covered with greenery, including ancient trees and numerous medicinal herb fields.
Ah Man and her Master were the only ones who stayed here.
However, even she could not head to the other courtyards without her Master’s permission.
The Primeval Deity Sect had numerous Elders who were experts that attained the sixth-level, and some had even reached the seventh level.
Although Ah Man’s Master kept a low profile and rarely ventured out, the other Elders stayed out of his way and treated him with respect.
That was because her Master was not only an expert who had sixth-level cultivation, but he was also an alchemist who could produce all kinds of ancient concoctions, thereby giving him special status.
He had even created some of the ancient pills whose recipes had been lost.
As Ah Man came from the Primitives, it had been hard for her to enter the Primeval Deity Sect. Her physique was unsuitable for Dao cultivation.
The powerful expert from the Primitives within the Primeval Deity Sect would not take her in as their disciple either.
Compared to the Humans, Primitives needed far more resources to cultivate. Their experts did not even have enough resources for their own cultivation, so naturally, they would not take on a disciple from the Primitives.
However, at the time, her Master who had just returned from gathering medicinal ingredients saw her and immediately took a liking to her. He said he needed a disciple who would be in charge of maintaining his medicinal herb fields for him.
Therefore, Ah Man ended up becoming his disciple before she knew what was happening.
She had very few interactions with her Master. He would spend all his days inside his courtyard tending to his medicinal herbs and creating pills and elixirs.
Sometimes, he would give Ah Man bottles of pills. Some could be used to boost one’s Qi while others were for healing.
Ah Man grew up in the wilderness and had been taught by her Grandfather. Therefore, she was also an expert in the medicinal properties of substances.
She had a good understanding of the various medicinal herbs, pills, and elixirs.
Initially, she thought her Master meant well when he gave her those pills. However, she found that when some of the pills were consumed together, the reaction would cause an entirely different effect. It would enable one’s mental state to be easily controlled by others.
At first, she thought her Master had been careless and had given her this combination of pills by accident.
Over time, she slowly realised that while the pills he gave her seemed harmless at first glance, prolonged consumption would affect the person’s mind, even to the point where they become a puppet without a mind of their own.
That was when Ah Man started putting her guard up. However, she did not know why her Master wanted to control her.
She only had third-level cultivation. What would he get out of controlling her?
“It makes sense now. He sees me as nothing more than a Human Cauldron, and once my cultivation is high enough, he will take what he wants from me. He’s always so happy when I have a breakthrough in my cultivation. I used to think he was truly happy for me…” Ah Man’s eyes flashed icily. She might not have noticed it this soon if Gu Changge had not informed her of her future. It was this very reason that led to the Primeval Deity Sect killing off her settlement.
“It will take him at least half a month before he comes back, and before that, I must see what he can do.” Ah Man was fully aware of her capabilities. If she wanted to poison her Master, she would have done it in a way that could not be traced back to her.
In that case, how did the Primeval Deity Sect find out about it in the future she saw?
Was it because her Master had some kind of method that she did not know about that allowed him to secretly communicate with the Primeval Deity Sect?
Ah Man could not think of any other possibility.
“I’ll give you two weeks to avenge yourself. If you can’t do it in two weeks, I will wipe your memories. Everything will carry on as it once did. Anything and everything that happens after that will be none of my business. Naturally, during this time, I won’t help you,” Gu Changge said indifferently.
He was not being heartless. If Ah Man could not even handle such a tiny matter herself, she was not worth his time.
He was bound to find a second suitable candidate somewhere in the depths of existence.
<<Previous Chapter | I Am the Fated Villain | Next Chapter>>
