A month had passed. During that time, I completely ignored the system's orders and chose to focus on training. After all, there was no immediate punishment for delaying the mission. So why should I kill my own parents?
Even though I had taken over Chu Haoyu's body and had no real blood relationship with them, killing parents without a reason still felt absurd to me.
Because of that, I stayed holed up in my room, meditating and trying to break through to Qi Gathering Stage 6. But reality was disappointing. The Qi Gathering realm was far weaker than I had imagined. Even with rewards from the system, the increase in my strength was barely noticeable—both in cultivation and in actual combat.
The result?For a full month, I was still getting beaten everywhere I went.
Suddenly, the space in front of me trembled. From the void, a small female demon appeared. Her body was petite, wearing a tight black qipao that fit her perfectly. A pair of small horns grew from her head, and dark demonic wings slowly flapped behind her back.
"Stupid host!" she snapped angrily, her face clearly irritated—yet somehow adorable at the same time."Hurry up and do your mission and stop lazing around!"
I stared at her cautiously."Are you the system?" I asked. "No matter what, I won't do that. It goes against my morals."
The little demon looked gloomy for a moment, then her expression turned cold."Fine. Then I'll change the mission. If you don't kill both of your parents within one month, you will die."
Suddenly, the system interface appeared.
[This is not how it was planned!!!]
I raised an eyebrow at the panel, then looked back at the little demon.
Her face grew even more sour. She seemed to be doing something, and the system screen changed again.
[Issuing mission to host:]Mission: Kill both of your parentsDuration: 1 monthReward: Blood Sword TechniqueFailure: Death
I frowned, sensing something was off."Wait. You're not the system, are you? Who are you really?"
The demon looked at me firmly."I am the system administrator. The system and I are separate entities. However, the final decision lies with me. I hope you will comply with the new mission I've given you."
"Even so," I said, trying to stay calm, "I can't kill my parents. They're stronger than me. Can you at least return the mission duration to how it was before… or remove the punishment?"
"I don't care," she replied coldly. "Figure it out yourself. Besides, this is the first step to becoming a Heavenly Demon."
"Then what if I fail?" I asked with a faint smile, testing her limits."You must have a reason for choosing me. You wouldn't just let me die like this, right?"
The little demon sneered."Don't misunderstand. We only saw your potential. If you die, we can find another candidate in this vast universe."
Her body vanished just like that.
I frowned.Turns out I was wrong. I wasn't some irreplaceable chosen one.
[Ding. The system can assist the host in concocting poison or other methods to kill the host's parents.]
The system panel appeared again, slightly easing my unease.
"Can you change the mission back to the original?" I asked.
[No.]
"You seemed to oppose this earlier, so why do you look like you're on her side now?"
[Although the system does not approve of this coercive method, killing the host's parents is indeed necessary to walk the path of the Heavenly Demon.]
I frowned.There was no choice.
[Besides, they are not the host's real parents—]
I immediately waved my hand, closing the system interface.
No matter what, even if they weren't my real parents, killing them without reason was still immoral. I had already taken over Chu Haoyu's body—and in return, I should kill his parents? That made absolutely no sense.
"Forget it," I muttered."I'll go to the city. Locking myself up for a whole month is driving me insane."
I got off the bed and walked out of the house.
On the road, some people mocked me. I ignored them, but a few started throwing stones at me, making disgust rise in my chest.
Suddenly, a hand wrapped around my shoulder.
"Yo, isn't this Chu Haoyu?"Chu Feiyu walked beside me with a mocking smile."How are you doing? I heard you trained for a whole month. Any improvement?"
I didn't answer.
Over the past month, I had gotten to know him well enough. He was the type who enjoyed bullying the weak. The more you submitted, the harder he hit. If you resisted, it was even worse—because he would start fighting seriously.
Suddenly, something swept my legs. I lost my balance and fell backward, my back slamming into the ground.
Thud!
Laughter echoed around me. I stared coldly at Chu Feiyu's face.For the past month, I had been holding back my hatred toward him and his friends. They always harassed me just for fun.
I swore that one day, I would break their legs in return.
Chu Feiyu stopped laughing when our eyes met."Pretty bold of you to look at me like that. Want to fight me?"
He kicked my head. My body rolled across the ground.
"Come on," he laughed. "Don't you want to fight me?"
His kick slammed into my stomach. My body lifted off the ground and crashed into a stone wall.
I vomited, gasping as I endured the pain. Even so, I stayed silent. I didn't fight back.
"Tsk, boring. Beat him up," Chu Feiyu ordered.
His lackeys stepped forward and beat me mercilessly. I tried to block with my arms, but punch after punch still landed brutally.
A few minutes later, they seemed bored and left, abandoning me on the ground.
When I was sure they were gone, I took out some medicine from my storage ring and swallowed it. Warmth spread through my body, and the pain slowly faded.
"One day," I murmured softly,"I'll repay all of this tenfold."
I left the clan grounds and headed toward the nearest city.
After going down the mountain and renting a beast mount for one low-grade spirit stone from the clan, I finally arrived at the nearest city after an hour of travel.
The city gates towered high, made of dark gray stone carved with ancient patterns that radiated a sense of history. The streets were crowded with pedestrians—cultivators, merchants, and ordinary people mixed together.
The air was filled with the smells of food, medicine, and hot metal. Vendors shouted over one another, while carriages and beast mounts passed by endlessly.
But in the middle of all that—
I felt an extremely powerful light.
Not physical light, but something that pierced my senses instinctively. Without realizing it, my feet moved on their own, following its source.
The closer I got, the atmosphere changed.
In the middle of the street, a young woman was kneeling. She kept banging her forehead against the ground, producing dull thuds over and over again.
In front of her stood several men with cold expressions.
She wore simple clothes—not luxurious, not shabby. Her black hair was loosely tied back, with a few strands falling over her pale face. Her features were not the striking type, but soft and well-balanced, giving her a natural kind of beauty.
No heavy makeup. No arrogant aura.Just an ordinary woman—yet for some reason, she looked too pure in this cruel world.
And from her body—that light was clearly emanating.
I stopped a few steps away from the crowd.
My brows furrowed.
"…Interesting."