Chapter 199: 199. Chapter 196: Laozi Demonized, New Guardian of the Demon Realm

199. Chapter 196: Laozi Demonized, New Guardian of the Demon Realm

That day, after finishing his cultivation, the Heavenly Demon chatted with Laozi as usual. This time he noticed that Laozi's mind and spirit were frequently losing control. The Heavenly Demon knew the opportunity had come; after a round of temptation, Laozi's mind and spirit lost control again. The Heavenly Demon seized the moment, lunged forward, enveloping Laozi's mind and spirit, and then smoothly entered Laozi's sea of consciousness.

After entering Laozi's sea of consciousness, the Heavenly Demon gave him no chance, lunging straight at his primordial spirit. By the time Laozi reacted, the Heavenly Demon had already merged with his primordial spirit.

"Damn it, you actually sneak‑attacked this poor Daoist!" By the time Laozi realized the Heavenly Demon was there, he had already fused with his own primordial spirit.

The next second, Laozi's primordial spirit burst with intense soul undulations, trying to tear the Heavenly Demon away from it, but to no avail.

"I've already said it—I am you, I am your other self; we were originally one. Now, prepare to accept my power." the Heavenly Demon said with a smile.

The next second, Laozi's primordial spirit began to darken from the brow outward. The darkening was slow, even describable as a turtle's pace, because Laozi was still resisting.

But once the Heavenly Demon had corroded Laozi's entire forehead, his resistance weakened considerably.

Because he discovered that, while the Heavenly Demon was eroding his primordial spirit, a powerful force suddenly appeared within him, and his cultivation, which had never ceased since his fall from the Saint's Throne, actually increased.

Precisely because he noticed this, Laozi's resistance diminished considerably.

"Since it's come to this, why not just fall into demonhood? Since this poor Daoist has already fallen from the Saint's Throne, I'll use the demonic path to return to the Saint's Throne, and then I will surely tear Panhuang limb from limb!" Laozi's heart suddenly spoke these words.

After saying that, Laozi completely gave up resistance. The Heavenly Demon immediately noticed the change, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Success!"

The process went smoothly thereafter, for as Laozi abandoned resistance, the Heavenly Demon's infection speed quickened.

As the Heavenly Demon infected Laozi, black demonic qi began to appear on his body, soon wrapping him completely; in a moment, Laozi turned into a pitch‑black cocoon.

After this humanoid great cocoon formed, it did not cease; large amounts of demonic qi continued to seep out, and the surrounding buildings quickly absorbed the escaping qi.

With the passage of time, Laozi's Dao field was gradually tainted by the demonic qi; its former tranquility and elegance were instantly replaced by a feeling of brutality and bloodlust.

Soon, the humanoid great cocoon enveloping Laozi began to tremble, releasing large amounts of demonic qi; this qi was not wasted but wholly absorbed by Laozi's Dao field, and the Dao field that had absorbed the qi felt an even stronger sense of oppression and bloodlust.

Boom—

At a certain moment, the black great cocoon encasing Laozi shattered, revealing Laozi within. His aura was now completely different from before—though he was still the same person, he bore an extremely arrogant disposition, and his eyes occasionally flashed with a fierce gleam.

In fact, the Heavenly Demon arranged by Rahu is of a very high rank; those who fall to such a Heavenly Demon never show a situation like Laozi's, and they are indistinguishable from ordinary cultivators unless they expose themselves, making it impossible for others to detect that they are demon cultivators.

But Rahu never expected that Laozi's hatred for Panhuang would be so great; this caused the Heavenly Demon to absorb too much negative emotion during Laozi's fall into demonhood, and Laozi ended up as he is now—appearing like a low‑level demon, brimming with killing intent and an uncontrollable bloodlust.

"Is this what it feels like to fall into demonhood? This power is completely different from what I had before." Feeling the surging demonic qi within him, Laozi said with a smile.

At this moment Laozi's strength had reached the Quasi‑Saint Peak, only a step away from becoming a Saint, but he did not immediately advance to Saint; he wanted to consolidate his current cultivation first, and once he adapted to this state, he would ascend the Saint's Throne again.

"Panhuang, wait for me; when I return to the Saint's Throne, that will be your death." Laozi muttered to himself.

After saying that, Laozi restrained his aura and walked out of the Dao field.

After walking out of the Dao field again, Laozi suddenly felt as if he had stepped into another world; since his fall from the Saint's Throne he hadn't known how long it had been since he last left the Dao field. Gazing at the familiar Chaos before him, Laozi's lips curled into a smile.

"Rahu, you who once narrowly lost to the Dao Ancestor Hongjun in the past—who would have thought I'd end up under your command." Laozi muttered to himself.

After saying that, Laozi waved his hand, collected his Dao field, and then vanished from the spot.

When he reappeared, he had already entered the Demon Realm. Although the Demon Realm is an appendage of the Wilderness, it is special: though it lies within Chaos, basically no one can locate its whereabouts.

Laozi knows the location of the Demon Realm because he has become a demon.

Upon entering the Demon Realm, Rahu immediately sensed Laozi's aura, and a smile appeared on his face: "My Demon Realm Guardian has arrived!"

"Someone, go fetch my Demon Realm Great Guardian and bring him here!" Rahu said with a smile.

"Yes!" the Heavenly Demon standing behind the throne replied and withdrew from the Heavenly Demon Palace.

After entering the Demon Realm, Laozi sat where he was. He knew Rahu could detect him; although Rahu is from the same era as Hongjun, Laozi, as a former Saint, still had his own dignity.

From now on he will have to obey Rahu's orders, so for now he must maintain his bearing, even if only for a moment.

"Welcome, Great Guardian! The Demon Ancestor summons you." After a short while, several Heavenly Demons brought a palanquin to Laozi's side.

"Hmm!" Laozi gave a slight nod and then boarded the palanquin.

Rahu did not keep him waiting long; about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Laozi met Rahu in the Heavenly Demon Palace.

"Greetings, Demon Ancestor!" Upon seeing Rahu, Laozi performed a respectful salute.

He knew that from the moment he entered the Heavenly Demon Palace, his former identity was useless; now he was merely Rahu's subordinate, Rahu's Great Guardian.

"Hahaha, welcome back, Great Guardian of the Demon Race!" Rahu said, laughing upon seeing Laozi.

He even stepped down from his lofty throne for Laozi, personally helping him to his feet—this made Laozi's heart visibly tremble; he never expected Rahu to be such a courteous, virtuous person.

Besides, it goes without saying that since the Demon Realm's birth, it has basically never admitted outsiders; now Laozi is the first foreigner to join their Demon Realm, and he is furthermore a former Saint.

Either point is worth Rahu descending from his lofty throne.

"Today my Demon Realm Great Guardian returns to his post; I proclaim three days of revelry in the Demon Realm!" Rahu declared with a sweeping gesture.

"Congratulations to the Demon Ancestor!" all the Heavenly Demons shouted loudly.

Meanwhile, at the moment Laozi became a demon, Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiaozhu immediately sensed it; the three of them are transformations of Pangu's primordial spirit, and there is a mysterious bond between them.

When Laozi first fell into demonhood they sensed it, but they made no announcement; deep down they still hoped Laozi could restore his cultivation, and although his methods might not be entirely upright, at least he no longer needs to be trapped in that Dao field.

After Laozi disappeared with his Dao field, Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiaozhu each let out a sigh of relief, knowing he had gone to the Demon Realm, for the ultimate destination of a demon cultivator is the Demon Realm.

If Laozi were discovered to have become a demon in the Chaos, he would surely be besieged by all the Saints, and then they would be unable to help him.

"Let's just honestly cultivate; from today on we'll ignore Laozi's affairs and not mention them again." Yuanshi Tianzun said, looking at Tongtian Jiaozhu.

"Hmm!" Tongtian Jiaozhu nodded.

In fact, it's not only Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiaozhu; Jieyin and Zhunti also noticed the situation on Laozi's side.

"Senior Brother!"

"We won't deal with this matter, nor will we meddle in it; it brings us no benefit." Jieyin said to Zhunti with a very solemn expression.

"Senior Brother, Junior Brother I don't mean to interfere in this matter; Junior Brother's meaning is whether we should inform Panhuang of Laozi's situation." Zhunti looked at Jieyin and asked.

"If we can sense it, will they be unable to sense it?" Jieyin asked.

"All right!" Zhunti nodded.

Jieyin had guessed wrong, for the Dao field of Panhuang and his companions is far from Laozi's; the Chaos Qi in the Chaos can block spiritual sense and also block the transmission of energy, so unless there is a very strong ability fluctuation, the distance is too great to sense anything.

That is to say, Panhuang and his group have no idea that Laozi has become a demon; since the Yangmei faction visited, they have been consolidating their cultivation, because sooner or later they will explore the Chaos with the Yangmei group, and if their cultivation falls short, it will be troublesome.

"Pánhuáng Daoist friend, Nüwa has come to visit!" Just as Pánhuáng had finished his cultivation, Nüwa's voice sounded from outside the daoist temple.

Pánhuáng waved his hand, opening the daoist temple and welcoming Nüwa inside.

"I don't know what you came for, Daoist friend?" Pánhuáng asked, looking at Nüwa.

"I have come for Laozi!" Nüwa said.

"Laozi? What happened to him? Is he dead?" Pánhuáng said, somewhat curious.

Laozi has now fallen from his holy position; in the wilderness, with his quasi-sage strength, he truly cannot withstand the erosion of Chaos's power.

If he entered Chaos from the wilderness, he could still remain in Chaos for a while, but the Chaos power surrounding the sage's daoist temple is extremely violent; if Laozi stepped out of the temple, he couldn't even withstand ten breaths.

"Laozi has fallen into demonic corruption!" Nüwa said lightly, looking at Pánhuáng.

"What? Fallen into demonic corruption? How did that happen?" Pánhuáng's brows furrowed immediately.

"I don't know, because Laozi has now disappeared, and even his daoist temple is gone; I suspect he is now in the demon realm, after all the demon realm is the holy land of all demon cultivators, and Rahu would surely welcome him." Nüwa voiced her speculation.

"It seems Laozi is unwilling to accept this! By the way, what movements have Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiaozhu made?" Pánhuáng asked.

"They haven't made any moves; in fact, they have even sealed off their daoist temple, likely because they too have discovered Laozi, doing so probably to avoid trouble."

"Thank you for the information, Nüwa Daoist friend!" Pánhuáng said to Nüwa.

Nüwa merely smiled and said nothing; in her view, they were allies, so information should of course be shared. Moreover, she was extending goodwill—Pánhuáng now being in the Heavenly Dao realm, maintaining good relations with him would be greatly beneficial to her in the future.

"Since you, Pánhuáng Daoist friend, are aware of this matter, what do you intend to do?" Nüwa asked curiously.

"There's no rush!" Pánhuáng said with a laugh, while an idea formed in his mind, but realizing it would require cooperation with Yangmei and Hongjun.

"Since you have an idea, I won't ask further—farewell!" Nüwa said as she rose to leave.

"Take care!" Pánhuáng nodded.

After Nüwa left, Pánhuáng fell into deep thought: "I never expected Laozi to fall into demonic corruption—this is something I never could have imagined!"

"Besides, it doesn't matter; since you've fallen into demonic corruption, the first step in our exploration of Chaos will be to set our sights on the demon realm. I also wonder what expression you'll wear when we meet again." Pánhuáng muttered to himself.

After saying that, Pánhuáng closed his eyes and resumed cultivation. Thinking that Laozi might now be in the demon realm chatting with Rahu, he wanted to go there immediately to see what the Laozi transformed from Pangu's primordial spirit had become.

Soon, Pánhuáng fully consolidated his cultivation. Originally he had intended to wait for Yangmei and Hongjun to come find him, but now he no longer wanted to wait; he would go find Yangmei and Hongjun and then begin exploring Chaos.

The last time Yangmei left, he told Pánhuáng the location of his daoist temple, so Pánhuáng arrived at Yangmei's daoist temple without much delay.

Upon seeing Pánhuáng, Yangmei's face showed surprise, because from his first contact with Pánhuáng to now, Pánhuáng had always given him a faint sense of aloofness; he hadn't expected Pánhuáng to take the initiative to seek him out.

"Daoist friend, what is this? Are you ready?" Yangmei asked uncertainly.

"Exactly!" Pánhuáng nodded.

"I'm afraid I might disappoint you, Daoist friend—Hongjun is still in closed-door cultivation to consolidate his cultivation, so we still need to wait a bit." Yangmei said to Pánhuáng.

"No problem; since Hongjun Daoist friend is in closed-door cultivation to consolidate his cultivation, waiting a while is no big issue." Pánhuáng smiled.

In the days that followed, Pánhuáng discussed the Dao with Yangmei in Yangmei's daoist temple; though it was called a discussion, most of the time Yangmei was the one speaking, while Pánhuáng, figuring that free-riding was best, said little, yet he still gained many benefits from Yangmei's lectures, making the trip worthwhile. (End of chapter)