Facing the Abyss as a Demon Cultivator

The sudden voice didn't alert Li Shan to anything amiss. He continued excitedly, "Right? You think so too, Wang Long—"

His voice abruptly cut off. He noticed Wang Long, who stood before him, hadn't opened his mouth. Instead, Wang Long stared in horror at something behind Li Shan.

Puchi.

A sharp bone spear pierced through Li Shan's chest with a soft sound.

He looked down in a daze, eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at the spear tip protruding from his chest.

Opposite him, Wang Long's face was a mask of terror. Before he could make a sound, a ghastly, demonic face emerged from behind him.

In the next instant, Wang Long's body was torn to shreds by two razor-sharp claws. His internal organs spilled out with a sickening splatter, leaving only a severed head on the ground. Like a dying fish, its lips flapped weakly.

"You, you…"

Li Shan choked out, his voice lost in the gush of blood flooding his mouth.

Clang.

Chu Xiu retracted his bone spear, letting Li Shan's body collapse onto the ground.

His eyes remained wide, seemingly unable to accept the reality of his impending death. He clawed at the ground with his left hand, desperately trying to move, his mouth forming desperate gasps for help.

Chu Xiu strode forward and plunged the spear into Li Shan's head.

Thump.

With a soft sound, a pile of items materialized out of thin air. With the death of the two men, the contents of their storage spaces spilled out.

Looking at the two lifeless bodies and the surrounding loot, a sardonic smile spread across Chu Xiu's face.

In truth, ever since he learned of Li Shan and Wang Long's plot against him, he had been using his Yin Ghosts to track them, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.

However, the duo had stuck close to the group, leaving Chu Xiu with no opening.

Of course, Chu Xiu wasn't one to sit idly and wait. If they remained in the stronghold, he would have found a way to lure them out and kill them.

His intuition told him that the last day of the trial wouldn't end peacefully. The blood moon hanging overhead grew increasingly ominous, hinting at an impending change.

He needed to eliminate as many variables as possible before the blood moon reached its peak.

However, if his attempts to lure them out failed, Chu Xiu wouldn't resort to forcefully killing them within the stronghold. He wouldn't risk open conflict with the others for the sake of two insignificant pawns.

In other words—

If Li Shan and Wang Long hadn't separated from the group and attempted to kill him, they would have likely escaped the Awakening Trial unscathed.

It was a cruel irony.

"This is a world of contradictions."

"Choose to be a good person, and you will inevitably suffer bullying and exploitation at the hands of those who disregard rules, those driven by self-interest, and those who prey on the weak."

"Choose to be evil, and you must tread the endless path of survival of the fittest, a constant struggle where only the strong prevail."

"To survive peacefully, there are only two paths: become the most ruthless among the wicked through endless battles, or band together with other good people to establish a stable and orderly society. The stricter the enforcement of rules, the less room for evil to thrive. Of course, human history has proven that exploitation is difficult to eliminate, but at least, it allows for a space for survival."

Chu Xiu looked at the cooling bodies on the ground with a hint of pity. He shook his head and sighed. "As sheep, they shouldn't have stepped onto the path of slaughter, a path stalked by wolves."

This was his first time killing, yet Chu Xiu felt no significant resistance. He even felt a strange beauty in the moment the blood blossomed.

At the same time, he felt something cold, violent, and hateful—an invisible, intangible entity brimming with negative emotions—latch onto him.

"Is this… killing karma?" Chu Xiu frowned slightly.

He had sensed a similar, formless presence merging with him when he first started killing abyssal creatures.

However, that feeling was the complete opposite of what he felt now. It had been a sensation of light, grandeur, and warmth.

"This intangible force born from killing Li Shan and Wang Long… it aligns with the descriptions in demonic cultivation texts. It must be killing karma."

"Then what did I obtain from slaying those abyssal creatures? Meritorious deeds?"

Chu Xiu couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. He, a demonic cultivator, was now enveloped in meritorious deeds?

He had killed countless abyssal creatures in the past few days, accumulating far more merit than karma. He could clearly sense that the mental influence of the killing karma was being neutralized by the merit.

However, strangely enough, the boost to his cultivation of the Boundless Reincarnation Technique remained unaffected!

He could feel both merit and karma residing within him, both accelerating the cultivation of his technique!

"Don't tell me… this is the true way to cultivate this technique?"

The technique itself didn't seem to have any inclination towards good or evil. It was just that in the era of cultivators, there were no readily available methods to gain merit, forcing those who cultivated this technique onto a path of slaughter.

This realization left Chu Xiu dumbfounded.

However, this was undoubtedly great news for him. At least he no longer had to worry about losing his mind to killing karma.

With the abundance of abyssal creatures in the abyss, as long as he didn't go on a senseless killing spree, his merit would always outweigh his karma.

Shaking his head, Chu Xiu pushed the thought aside for now. He began rummaging through the duo's belongings for valuable items while using his [Perfect Refinement] talent to absorb their blood essence and cultivate the Bloodthirst Heart Tempering Art.

The moment [Perfect Refinement] activated, a wave of potent life essence surged into Chu Xiu's body, causing him to close his eyes in satisfaction.

As he had expected, the life essence of Awakened individuals was incredibly potent!

The previous slaughter of ghouls had already replenished the energy required for the Bloodthirst Heart Tempering Art. Now, all he needed was life essence!

As 4th-rank Awakened and combat professionals, their life essence was many times richer than that of ordinary people. Upon absorption, Chu Xiu's cultivation progress skyrocketed!

70%!

80%!

90%!

100%!!!

After draining the last vestiges of life essence from Wang Long and Li Shan's corpses, Chu Xiu felt a bottleneck shatter within him. His heart seemed to undergo an earth-shattering transformation!

A powerful force surged from his beating heart, generating new, invigorated blood. Every organ in his body was revitalized, as if a second-hand car had been fitted with a Ferrari engine!

Chu Xiu casually threw a punch. Accompanied by a sharp whoosh of air, both the speed and power of his strike were leagues beyond what he was capable of before!

Moreover, he could feel his endurance skyrocket! An endless stream of energy flowed from his heart, seemingly inexhaustible!

[Bloodthirst Heart Tempering Art cultivated. Endurance +11, Strength +6, HP regeneration speed +3.5, Nerve reaction speed +2! (Overall Physical Enhancement (Constitution) +7.6)]

The system notification rang in his ears, bringing a wide grin to his face.

His Constitution stat after reaching 6th-rank was only 9 points! This enhancement had nearly doubled it!

Chu Xiu clenched his fist, feeling a surge of confidence.

"Now, even in terms of physique alone, I'm on par with A-rank combat professionals of the same rank!"

This was the terrifying aspect of demonic cultivators—their growth potential far surpassed any other profession!!!

Taking a deep breath, Chu Xiu calmed his excitement.

He still had other gains to collect.

For instance, the bone equipment could be refined and used to upgrade his own gear.

Chu Xiu decided to focus on enhancing his bone spear.

Armor required a significant amount of materials. After his physical enhancement, a powerful weapon would provide a greater boost to his combat strength.

Based on his previous experience, the effects of the enchantments grew stronger with each upgrade.

He was curious to see what surprises awaited him once his spear reached +10!

With a wave of his hand, he began refining the bone equipment, successfully enhancing his bone spear to +8.

Apart from that, he also obtained a total of 27 Karma Points and a [Standard] grade item: [Type 005 Ghoul Venom].

This was the poison Li Shan had planned to use against him.

It could be applied to weapons and equipment, lasting for ten minutes. Upon inflicting a wound, it would release a potent toxin with a total value of 3.5 over thirty seconds.

Chu Xiu didn't have a concrete understanding of the numbers, but he figured it must be quite a deadly poison.

All in all, it was a bountiful harvest.

"As expected, plundering from others is much more efficient," Chu Xiu couldn't help but sigh.

"Now, for the final step—"

Chu Xiu took a deep breath and suddenly yelled, "Ghouls! Ghouls are invading!!!"

(End of Chapter)