Volume One: The Devil's Nature Never Changes
Arc: The Great Guerrilla War
[Four Months Later]
Not much happened during those four months.
Liu Zai Hang's cultivation stabilized at the ninth level of the Path Initiation Realm, while both Ikalat and Lin Yuan reached the eighth level of the Qi Condensation Realm. The Yin and Yang Guardians reached the first level of the Path Initiation Realm.
Scarlet King was the exception.
His complete lack of aptitude and roots—which were responsible for cultivation speed and strengthening the Primordial Sea and Core Aperture—combined with the transformations that slowed his cultivation, caused him to focus on creating a better balance between his internal foundation and external support.
At first, this might seem illogical considering their absurd cultivation speed, but that was due to Mystical Cultivation Arts, which belonged to a system that was no longer officially recognized.
During the ancient eras, it had been one of the supporting systems, bringing the total number of systems to nineteen. However, its recognition was eventually revoked because Mystical Cultivation Arts had become absurdly rare.
As a result, the number of systems officially recognized by the cultivation community as a whole, along with the Great and Lesser Concepts, was reduced to only eighteen.
A cultivator could create Cultivation Arts that increased their cultivation speed.
The stronger a Mystical Cultivation Art was, and the more adaptable and compatible it was with its user, the greater the increase in cultivation speed.
Scarlet King had given each of them a Mystical Cultivation Art specifically suited to them, with the exception of Liu Zai Hang.
Liu Zai Hang's existing Cultivation Art already suited him well, so Scarlet King had no need to give him a stronger Mystical Cultivation Art.
Doing so would accelerate Liu Zai Hang's cultivation and might cause him to be expelled into a higher dimension, potentially ruining Scarlet King's current plans.
Due to Scarlet King's nearly infinite knowledge, he possessed millions of ancient Mystical Cultivation Arts that could serve as foundations.
He could also create new Mystical Cultivation Arts by combining multiple arts within his mind and producing an entirely new one.
Creating a Mystical Cultivation Art completely from scratch, however, was incredibly difficult even for the Devil of Rebirth.
Mystical Cultivation Arts were divided into the following ranks:
Mystical Cultivation Art — Mortal Rank
Mystical Cultivation Art — Earth Rank
Mystical Cultivation Art — Heavenly Rank
Mystical Cultivation Art — Cloud Rank
Mystical Cultivation Art — Existential Rank
Mystical Cultivation Art — Eternal Rank
Scarlet King gave each of them an art specifically suited to them, though their ranks differed.
Ikalat: Mystical Cultivation Art — Cloud Rank
Its name was:
"Nature of Regenerative Chaos."
It was an art that helped form and condense Chaos Qi while increasing the speed at which it circulated through the energy pathways.
Chaos Qi was unique to Chaos Beings and the Chaos Clan.
The primary types of Qi were divided into:
Ordinary Qi: Qi Gathering Realm
Path Qi: Beginning of Path Formation Realm
Sacred Qi: Primordial Sainthood Realm
Void Qi: Void Realm
Ruler Qi: Ruler Realm
Composite Qi: Great Emperor Realm or Demonic Ancestor Realm
There was also a version of every type of Qi with the word "Demonic" added to distinguish it from ordinary Qi, as Demonic Qi belonged specifically to the Demonic Dimensions.
In addition, there were different types of Qi associated with specific beings and systems:
Beast Qi: Belongs to the Beast System
Chaos Qi: Belongs to the Chaos Clan and Chaos Beings
Ink Qi: Belongs to the Ink Clan
And various other types of Qi.
As for the others:
Lin Yuan: Mystical Cultivation Art — Heavenly Rank
Its name was:
"Nature of the Ancient Forest Land."
It suited his kind and grounded nature. It had also become apparent that he possessed a natural affinity with the earth and nature, so Scarlet King gave him this art to further develop his advantage in controlling them.
Yin and Yang Guardians: Mystical Cultivation Art — Heavenly Rank
Its name was:
"Male-Female Yin-Yang Balance Art."
It was a dual cultivation technique that allowed the two of them to develop at twice the normal speed, on top of the art's existing effects, whenever they cultivated together.
Everyone had made progress.
Even Scarlet King had chosen a Mystical Cultivation Art for himself: the Mystical Cultivation Art of the Devil of Rebirth, which he had personally invented to match his rebirth, darkness, and ink-related nature.
Whenever he cultivated within a dark place, his cultivation speed increased.
And every time he died, his cultivation speed permanently increased.
However, Scarlet King's death was not something trivial.
He could control how long it took for him to be reborn, whether in the very same second or after any number of eras.
The problem was that he would lose all of his cultivation progress.
His transformations and techniques would remain, but his cultivation progress would be destroyed, forcing him to begin again from the start.
That was why Scarlet King did not recklessly risk his life every time—not because he feared death, but because doing so was the less beneficial choice.
Some might argue that he could simply kill himself repeatedly to increase his cultivation speed to an absurd degree.
But that would be foolish as well.
An insane cultivation speed would be useless if his foundation were weak. Even a cultivator slightly below him in cultivation level could still be stronger than Scarlet King if their cultivation foundation was vastly superior.
Furthermore, a weak foundation combined with insane cultivation speed could destroy his Core Aperture.
That meant there would be no benefit to cultivating quickly if his Core Aperture was destroyed every time.
The existence of his transformations could make the situation even worse.
He also needed to practice the art properly.
If he failed to practice it regularly, its effects would immediately disappear. At least once every twenty-two days, he had to practice the art.
The increase gained through death was permanent as long as he continued maintaining the art, but it would become inactive if he neglected his training.
The amount of the increase depended on the cultivation level at which he died.
Dying at level zero provided almost no increase at all.
Furthermore, Scarlet King killing himself would not grant him permanent acceleration.
He had to be killed by an external source.
The art itself also possessed mastery levels:
Primitive Level
Mortal Level
Earth Level
Heavenly Level
Existential Level
Eternal Level
There was a distinction.
The previous categories were ranks, while these were mastery levels.
Each mastery level represented an evolution of the art itself. With every increase in mastery, the art became more compatible with its user and more powerful.
It could even evolve into a special type known as a Unique Mystical Cultivation Art, which was several times stronger than an ordinary one.
Despite all of this, Scarlet King had not broken through to another realm.
He had been focusing entirely on his internal balance.
Most cultivators possessed stronger internal support than external support, while Scarlet King had the opposite problem.
That was why he was trying to create a better balance between the two.
Not much else happened during those four months, aside from Wei Xia Mo officially joining them in complete secrecy while remaining stationed at the Dragon Gang headquarters.
There were also several minor conflicts and battles between Scarlet King's faction and the Dragon Gang.
During this period, the faction's membership rose to one hundred and twenty-two thousand people, and they accumulated considerable wealth through pink honey, juices, and Qi-rich meals.
After weighing the potential benefits and losses, Scarlet King also purchased the taverns from the Dragon Gang.
Because they were located close to the faction's main headquarters, he could easily protect them.
In fact, the taverns would function more like fortified strongholds.
In this way, Scarlet King turned the potential loss back onto the Dragon Gang and emerged with a profit himself.
[In the Morning]
On a beautiful sunny day, a gentle breeze drifted through the air, softening the intensity of the sunlight.
Liu Zai Hang stood with Scarlet King, Ikalat, and Lin Yuan.
"Alright. You three will go collect taxes from the sects subordinate to our sect. We will not be checking the exact amount of money, so if a small amount happens to disappear, no one will notice."