Japan, Tokyo, Toyogasaki Academy. This academy, founded less than ten years ago, had a relatively free atmosphere. It was quite popular in Tokyo and well-regarded by many students.
Every year, a large number of students enrolled.
Kael was one of them. But the reason he joined wasn't because of the academy's popularity. It was simply because the school was close to home. No other reason.
Class 1-E. Kael walked into the classroom and sat in his seat. Today was his third day since transmigrating into this world. In these three days, he had already grasped the information about this world. All thanks to the memories left behind by his predecessor.
The predecessor was also named Kael. His father was from Longguo, and his mother was Japanese. In short, he was a mixed-blood.
Now Kael had transmigrated to Tokyo, Japan—not a parallel world's Tokyo. Because this country had several familiar conglomerates: Shinomiya, Shichijo, Suzuki, Nogizaka, and so on. On TV, a child star named Sakurajima Mai had announced her retirement, while a rising superstar named Okino Yoko was emerging.
At this point, even if Kael were foolish, he would know he had likely arrived in a crossover anime world.
He had already tested it—the spiritual energy of heaven and earth here was pitifully scarce, not much different from his previous world. No wonder the system had run away. In an anime world, attaining immortality was far too difficult.
Of course, difficult didn't mean impossible. In fact, if Kael could abandon his morals, he could still achieve immortality. Thanks to the backup plan left by the system.
Although the cultivation system was untrustworthy and abandoned him halfway, it had indeed left Kael a shortcut to immortality. A demonic cultivation package.
This package contained numerous demonic cultivation methods. As long as Kael practiced these manuals, transcending and ascending would not be a mere dream.
After all, the demonic path differed from the righteous path. The righteous path emphasized absorbing the essence of sun and moon, breathing in spiritual energy, enduring years of hard cultivation, and finally ascending in broad daylight. But the demonic path ignored all that, focusing instead on indulgence and desire.
This was evident from its methods. For example, the Asura Killing Sutra cultivated Asura killing aura. Each person killed added one strand of killing aura—the more killing aura, the stronger the cultivation. If Kael killed more than half the world's population, the accumulated aura would be enough for him to ascend.
Then there was the White Bone Codex. This technique was even more sinister—it allowed one to devour human flesh and blood to strengthen bones, ultimately fusing all flesh into bone. At that point, one would gain indestructible bones, impervious to weapons, fire, and water. Once perfected, one could become a White Bone Immortal. But to reach that stage, one would have to devour at least a billion bodies.
There was also the Blood River Divine Art, which refined the blood of living beings to increase mana, opening a sea of blood within the body. Achieving the supreme state of "as long as the blood sea endures, I endure," it was essentially immortality.
The Soul-Devouring Demonic Art allowed one to consume human souls to strengthen oneself, ultimately reaching ascension.
In short, each of these demonic methods was terrifying, worthy of being called supreme manuals. Kael believed that even in a cultivation world, these would be top-tier techniques.
But the problem was that practicing them was far too inhumane. They all required killing. Whether devouring flesh or souls, none were good methods.
And to ascend as a true demonic immortal, one would need to kill billions of people. Kael, who had grown up needing the fishmonger to kill fish for him, was now expected to slaughter billions to ascend.
Sorry, he couldn't do it.
Thinking of this, Kael sighed. The path to heaven lay before him, yet he dared not take a step. It was shameful, utterly shameful. But then again, shame was better than becoming a murderous demon.
His pride and morals absolutely forbade him from becoming a butcher of humanity just to gain strength. And this was a modern world—killing even one person would alert the police. Killing dozens would make him a top fugitive. Once the machinery of the state moved, it was no joke. If his identity were exposed, even fleeing to the ends of the earth might not save him. Modern weapons were simply too terrifying.
So, should he give up? Guard this treasure mountain and live as an ordinary person?
Whenever Kael thought of this, he felt unwilling. For three days, he had been torn—he could grow stronger, but his morals stopped him from stepping forward. He feared falling into an endless abyss, becoming a slave to power and desire. Would he still be himself then?
Yet to give up entirely left him dissatisfied. This torment was unbearable. For days, Kael hadn't slept well, looking haggard.
To be honest, among the vast demonic arts, there were some that didn't require killing. For example, the Ten Thousand Poisons Sutra. This technique didn't require killing—it relied on absorbing toxins.
Resources weren't a problem. In modern society, poisons were everywhere. Beyond traditional ones like arsenic and cinnabar, there were chemical toxins like potassium chloride and hydrogen chloride. There were also infectious viruses like Ebola and smallpox. All of these could be used to cultivate the Ten Thousand Poisons Sutra.
But the problem was that practicing it would turn one into a source of viral infection. Eventually, even one's breath would carry deadly toxins. Wherever one went, death would follow. The ultimate source of poisons.
Even if Kael were foolish, he wouldn't turn himself into a walking plague.
Besides the Ten Thousand Poisons Sutra, there was the Undying Corpse Art, which absorbed death energy to turn one into a mummy. There were also techniques that caused personality changes and bodily mutations. Though they didn't require killing, they would eventually turn one into something neither human nor ghost. After all, demonic arts had to look the part.
This was why Kael hesitated—he wasn't ready to abandon his humanity completely. He still had some attachment to being human.
Ding ling ling…
Just as Kael continued to struggle, the class bell suddenly rang.