Chapter 1: Demon Child

On the ancient wilderness path, white clouds drift leisurely.
At the end of the ancient path lies a range of rolling mountains. In the distance, a peak pierces through seven layers of clouds, seemingly reaching for the heavens!
On the ancient path, a gaunt man covered in blood, holding an infant, is running with all his might.
As he runs, the man frequently glances back, as if some ferocious beast or bird of prey is pursuing him.
Moments later, a black mist appears in the sky behind him, like a rolling black dragon, chasing him down.
Seeing the black mist, the gaunt man's face changes drastically. He pulls out a triangular flag from his lower back, which is covered in many inscriptions and patterns. The most startling feature is a blood-red skull, its black, bottomless eye sockets exuding an ominous aura.
The man chants a spell, and as he activates the true magic, the blood-red skull flag suddenly enlarges in the wind, growing from two feet to over ten feet in an instant.
Holding the blood-red skull flag, the man waves it towards the approaching black mist, and instantly, several streaks of blood light burst from the flag, meeting the black mist amid ghostly wails and eerie winds.
The black mist and the blood light collide mid-air, creating a thunderous roar.
The blood light vanishes, and the black mist dissipates.
As the black mist fades, a man in a black robe appears, about fifty years old, surrounded by a sinister black aura, clearly not someone from the righteous path.
Seeing the man in the black robe, the gaunt man's eyes show a hint of despair.
Even if he were not gravely injured, facing this man in the black robe, he would stand no chance of victory.
The man in the black robe hovers in the air, looking at the gaunt man on the ancient path, and says with a sinister smile, "Blood Slave, you are quite the runner. In consideration of our century-long friendship, hand over the infant, and I will spare your life. Otherwise, don't blame me for disregarding our past brotherhood."
He hums darkly, caressing an ancient, dark green bracelet on his wrist, which seems capable of devouring souls.
Blood Slave, the gaunt man, lets out a bitter laugh, glancing at the infant in his arms, and says, "Soul Devourer, dying at your hands today, spared from those despicable cowards, I, Blood Slave, can die in peace. But I will never agree to give you this child!"
Soul Devourer, the man in the black robe, hoarsely says, "Blood Slave, why be so foolishly loyal? For thousands of years, our Holy Sect has always been a place of survival of the fittest. Your Ghost King is already dead, and the Holy Temple is now under the control of the Demon Sect. All factions of the Ghost Sect have pledged allegiance. Why are you still so obstinate?"
"Pah!"
Blood Slave spits in contempt, "Kill me if you must, but I will never hand over my young master to you!"
With that, he waves the large flag in his hand, wrapping the infant within it. Aiming at the towering peak at the end of the ancient path, he gathers all his strength and throws it with all his might!
Whoosh!
The giant blood-red skull flag, carrying the infant, turns into a streak of red light and vanishes into the sky, shooting towards the distant towering peak.
Soul Devourer, upon seeing this, changes his expression drastically and yells, "You're mad! That's Azure Cloud Mountain!"
Blood Slave laughs loudly, shouting, "If you dare, go to Azure Cloud Sect to ask for the child!"
Azure Cloud Mountain is home to Azure Cloud Sect, one of the four major righteous factions, teeming with high-level cultivators, some of whom even Soul Devourer fears.
Seeing the infant being shot towards Azure Cloud Sect, Soul Devourer is shocked. Once the child reaches Azure Cloud Sect, things will become complicated.
Thus, he roars angrily, turning into a black streak, chasing after the direction of the blood flag, intending to intercept it mid-way.
However, as soon as Soul Devourer moves, a streak of blood-red light appears in front of him, and suddenly, the entire sky seems to be filled with a pungent smell of blood.
The originally clear sky, with the emergence of the blood light, suddenly becomes filled with thick blood clouds, and amidst the howling ghostly winds, it becomes even more piercing.
Soul Devourer looked up to see countless Yin Spirits intermittently appearing and disappearing in the blood clouds, gnashing their teeth and showing hideous faces. His complexion slightly changed, and his swiftly advancing body was immediately blocked by the dense blood clouds.
"Blood Soul Induction? I didn't expect you to be so gravely injured and still have the strength to activate such a spirit-consuming ghostly art like Blood Soul Induction! Considering our hundreds of years of acquaintance as fellow disciples of the Holy Sect, I intended to spare your life. Since you are so obstinately unrepentant, don't blame me for being merciless!"
Seeing that he couldn't catch up with the baby, Soul Devourer directed all his anger towards Blood Slave.
He floated in mid-air, with his right hand's fingers joined together like a sword, thrusting towards Blood Slave on the ground who was activating the Blood Soul Induction art. Almost instantly, a pitch-black beam of light shot out from his fingertips.
The beam, thin as dust yet solid, coalesced without dispersing, moving at an extremely fast speed, and in a blink, it reached right in front of Blood Slave.
Seeing this, Blood Slave dodged swiftly, and the black beam shot directly into the bushes beside the ancient wilderness path.
"Bang!"
A muffled sound erupted, and a wrist-thick deep hole, probably seven or eight feet deep, appeared on the ground!
The power of this strike was truly earth-shattering. Fortunately, Blood Slave dodged in time. Otherwise, being hit by the black beam would have meant instant death, with blood splattering five steps away.
Blood Slave began chanting a long and obscure ghostly incantation. Suddenly, the blood clouds in the sky started to churn violently, and numerous ferocious Yin Spirits roared out from the clouds, pouncing towards Soul Devourer in mid-air.
Soul Devourer sneered, making no visible move, but the ancient-looking jade bracelet on his right wrist suddenly surged with black light, enveloping his entire body and forming a mysterious black light screen around him.
The Yin Spirits that collided with the black light screen immediately let out piercing, tragic screams. Then, they all melted into the screen, turning into wisps of blue smoke, being absorbed into the mysterious jade bracelet.
Blood Slave's complexion drastically changed, exclaiming in disbelief, "Holy Spirit... Holy Spirit Universe Bracelet?"
Soul Devourer burst into loud, crazy laughter, filled with solemnity, madness, arrogance, and triumph.
He said, "You have some insight. If you were at your peak, activating Blood Soul Induction, I might have had some concerns. But now, severely injured, your power is not even half of your usual. Today, I will use your soul, Blood Slave, to sacrifice to this Holy Spirit Universe Bracelet!"
The Holy Spirit Universe Bracelet, a famous righteous artifact lost to the world for a thousand years, is the natural nemesis of ghostly arts. It's a mystery how this divine object of the righteous path, missing for a millennium, appeared in the hands of the Demon Sect's Soul Devourer.
In the blink of an eye, the vast blood clouds and numerous Yin Spirits were completely devoured by the Holy Spirit Universe Bracelet.
Blood Slave, having exhausted his essence in casting the ghostly art Blood Soul Induction, had it broken in an instant. He was backlashed by the Yin Spirits, spewing a mouthful of blood and staggering back several steps, struggling to maintain his footing.
Seeing this, Soul Devourer let out several sinister chuckles and then activated his true magic. Vast demonic energy burst forth from beneath his loose black robe, transforming into dozens of black python-like forms, rolling towards the critically injured and dying Blood Slave.
Knowing his own condition was beyond salvation under The Demon Soul Devourer, Blood Slave gave up struggling and watched as the dozens of demon-like black auras rapidly enveloped his body.
After a few breaths, when the black aura dissipated, Blood Slave was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a pile of chilling white bones.
The Demon Soul Devourer, unsatisfied with just devouring Blood Slave's flesh and blood, shook his wrist, and the Holy Spirit Universe Bracelet shone with black light again, absorbing all of Blood Slave's souls and spirits into the bracelet for refinement, condemning him to eternal damnation.
After killing Blood Slave, Soul Devourer looked towards the towering peak at the end of the ancient path, the main hall of the Azure Cloud Sect, one of the four major righteous factions – Samsara Peak.
He muttered to himself, "If the sect master finds out that the child of the Ghost King was sent to the Azure Cloud Sect by a Blood Slave, my fate will be worse than that of the Blood Slave! Luckily, the Blood Slave is already dead, with no proof left. When I report back to the sect master, I'll say that both the Blood Slave and the child were killed by me. Given my status, the sect master is unlikely to doubt me..."
Thinking of this, he revealed a cold smile at the corner of his mouth, turned into a black light, and disappeared into the sky.