Chapter 5: Chapter Five: A New Beginning

The first person Luo Shan thought of was his friend Mu Ze, whom he met in the Nine Nether Realm.

He is now a Death God, possessing power that looks down on heaven and earth; perhaps, even with his help, defeating Ming Guang is not guaranteed.

But why would Mu Ze help him? They had known each other for only a single day. The Spirit Temple is the strongest force on this continent; even as a Death God, it might still not be a match for Ming Guang and the others.

Moreover, how could he even enter the Nine Nether Realm, and if he did, could he find Mu Ze?

Furthermore, a Death God cannot leave the Nine Nether Realm. Mu Ze had made that clear to him while he was struggling through the lower layers of the Nine Nether Realm. Thinking of that, Luo Shan felt discouraged.

Yet Mu Ze, a figure so distant and unattainable to Luo Shan, was now his only hope.

He entered the Nine Nether Realm because he was defeated by Ming Guang, his soul left without a place to return, which allowed him to go there. Grandpa Xiao Yushan said it was because the dark power within him was too great. Yet he was clearly from the Angel Clan. Why, why had everyone called him a blood‑thirsty outcast since childhood, and why did he end up in the dark Nine Nether Realm? Could it be that he was destined to be darkness from birth?

A dark angel is destined not to be accepted by this world.

He suddenly recalled a legend he had heard long ago: a dark angel would be endlessly despised and exiled throughout life, never possessing happiness, love, or even family affection. All relatives would abandon him, and this suffering would never end until the day the world perished.

Luo Shan knew his family had been expelled from the Angel Clan because of his dark power. Though his parents never mentioned it to him, he knew. The exile had been fulfilled when he was just born.

Losing family ties, all relatives would leave him. This proved true when, at twenty, his parents were ruthlessly taken by Ming Guang.

There were more—more desperate.

Would such a terrifying curse of pain that cannot end even until the world's destruction fall upon him?

Luo Shan walked aimlessly, as if the whole world had lost its luster.

If he is an angel devoured by dark power, then this world would never accept him.

If so, then this world holds no meaning for him, does it?

So… so… if that's the case, then I don't want it, I don't want this world! Dark power, darkness is just darkness; as long as it can let me rescue my parents and Xiao Tian, let me repay the kindness others have shown me, does it matter whether this world cares about me? Does the destruction of heaven and earth matter? Why should I care?

Luo Shan suddenly laughed up at the sky, and the clear heavens abruptly filled with dark clouds. The power bestowed by Xiao Yutian, the portions that his body had not absorbed, the forces that roamed his internal organs, limbs and bones, tainted by darkness, seemed to come alive at that moment, exuding from his pores and staining his skin a faint black. In an instant, the wind and clouds changed, the sun and moon lost their light. Within a ten‑zhang radius around him, everything turned black, while beyond ten zhang, everything remained calm.

"I want power," Luo Shan muttered to himself, the dark power twisting his once handsome features. "I want the power of a demigod; I want to save my relatives." A black cloud seemed to brew in the air, swirling around him, yet Luo Shan remained oblivious. His consciousness was already drifting.

At that moment, an aged voice suddenly sounded from within the cloud.

"Do you want power?"

"Hmm," Luo Shan closed his eyes and nodded. "I want the power to defeat the Spirit Temple."

"Such power is extraordinary. On this continent, there are virtually no one who can defeat them."

"I know. But I must have that power."

"Ha, do you think power is something you summon and discard at will? You are a cultivator too; you should understand that power is conserved. To possess power, you must pay a price!"

"Any price will do," Luo Shan murmured.

"Really, anything?" the voice, laced with allure, asked. "Do you know who I am?"

"I don't know." Luo Shan's consciousness was now completely beyond his control, even his voice began to sound ethereal.

"How could I possibly know who you are?" the voice sneered. "You are a dark angel, blood‑thirsty, fallen, cursed being; you were unwelcome from birth. Don't you want to know why?"

"Because I! I am Makas, the Dark God; it was I who bestowed the dark power upon you before you were born! I chose you as the heir of darkness. You should feel honored, you should obey my summons!"

"Darkness…" A faint spark of light flickered in Luo Shan's broken eyes. "Did you give me the dark power?"

"Kid, you finally understand," the voice laughed arrogantly. "I chose you as my successor; I've watched you for years, but only now has your dark power truly manifested. You crave power, don't you? You want great power to fulfill your wishes and satisfy your desires, right? Then obey my command and sacrifice your body and soul to me, and you will obtain the boundless power of the Dark God, inheriting Makas's mantle. So, no hesitation—give me what I want, and you will naturally get what you desire; a win‑win, everyone happy."

"Only, only if you surrender your own soul."

When Luo Shan was a child, his parents told him that on this continent, humans are not the sole ruling force; above them exist powerful deities, including the Death God, the Dark God, and the God of Light. The gods govern all natural forces, even human birth, aging, illness, and death.

However, over countless millennia, humanity, through relentless cultivation, eventually reached the divine realm—specifically the highest tier within the human realm, the Demigod stage. From then on, the gods' power was no longer supreme nor could they dominate everything in the world. Although only a handful of humans ever attained the Demigod realm over the ages, the deities felt immense pressure, leading to several great wars. Each war ended with a divine victory, yet the gods could no longer completely eradicate humanity; their limited numbers dwindled in the bloodshed, while humans grew ever more resilient, making the balance of victory increasingly unpredictable over time. The deities clearly knew they could never reclaim their original dominance, but they were unwilling to relinquish control of the world, so they sought various methods to strengthen themselves and subdue humanity. The God of Light, through guidance and enlightenment, aimed to resolve the divine‑human conflict without bloodshed. The Death God roamed the Nine Nether Realm, dismantling powerful souls that fell into hell yet still sought to return to the mortal world, absorbing their power. The Dark God, after the bloody war, remained alone as Makas, and turned his focus onto humanity itself, using dark power to corrupt their hearts, harvesting the souls they offered, and driving them to fight for him.

It can be said that among all deities, the Dark God Makas employs the slowest and most arduous methods, yet his results are the greatest. Once successful, his power expands like a rolling snowball. Luo Shan is his first test subject.

If he loses his body, mind, and soul, the original Luo Shan would vanish without a trace. He would lose the very goals he once fought for—whether his parents or the never‑met Xiao Tian—both would become meaningless to him. After all, as a servant of the Dark God, why should he concern himself with anyone else's life or death?

"Have you decided? Offer your body and soul to me," Makas's voice became even more soul‑capturing in an instant. That power and temptation were already beyond human resistance, and this dark aura had shrouded Luo Shan's heart for twenty years, intertwined with his very life. Even though Luo Shan's nature is weak, even if he could fend off external temptations, how could he resist his own inner darkness?

"Fine…" In a haze, Luo Shan murmured.

"I… from now on…"

"Ah!" Yet at that electrifying instant, a girl's startled cry suddenly reached Luo Shan's ears. The voice was crisp and moving; even the Luo Shan ensnared by Makas's dark god could hear it clearly. The shock snapped his nearly controlled mind back to awareness; the surrounding dark aura lost its support and swiftly receded back into Luo Shan's body.

Makas's voice vanished, for that girl's cry caused him to be defeated by Luo Shan in this encounter. With his disappearance, all the dark power dissipated, and Luo Shan's consciousness cleared again.

Luo Shan opened his eyes and, more than ten zhang away, saw a girl in white robes and a white skirt standing there, staring at him with a look of astonishment.