Recruit demons to become heroes, hunt demons to become gods

Chapter 278 The Opportunity of the Demon Suppression Tower

"If you can gain something from the Demon Suppression Tower, my Kun Gu Demon Bull clan will give you an unexpected surprise."

The Minotaur seemed to have transformed into another Minotaur, giving Dou Eqing a sense of unfamiliarity.

Since that was the case, Dou Eqing didn't ask any more questions and let Ji Xi leave after helping her consolidate her cultivation.

Since the Minotaur is no longer the same as before, Dou Eqing doesn't mind forcibly using the magic to control him.

Presumably, the other party had no choice but to endure the harm caused by the magic, considering that they were going to make a deal with him.

Next, Dou Eqing used the dual cultivation method to help Ji Xi consolidate her newly broken through Void Refinement cultivation.

This was all thanks to the Imperial Slave Palace that Qiu Shaozhen had given him. It not only provided him with several female cultivators with pure Yin bodies, but also allowed him to quickly replenish his energy by absorbing the essence of female cultivators.

Dou Eqing smiled smugly and revealed a delicate jade palace in his palm, which was none other than the Imperial Slave Palace.

He made hand seals and chanted incantations, instantly creating more than ten spiritual avatars, each possessing the imposing aura of the early Nascent Soul stage.

Those incarnations filed into the palace, and soon afterward, enchanting sounds could be heard emanating from within.

The female cultivators first gasped for breath, then let out soul-stirring moans.

Dou Eqing stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes gleaming.

When the female cultivators reached the peak of bliss and their primordial yin energy poured out, he suddenly opened his mouth and inhaled, drawing all the pure primordial yin energy into his dantian.

"Xi'er, it's our turn!"

Dou Eqing grinned maliciously and pulled the other person to begin dual cultivation.

First, enjoy an intimate moment, and then naturally cooperate with the dual cultivation technique.

He exerted all his strength, and the pure Yin essence he had just absorbed circulated through his meridians nine times.

Ji Xi seized the opportunity to activate the Yang Nourishing Yin Scripture, a secret method for absorbing Yang energy. Dou Eqing offered no resistance, seemingly collapsing at the slightest touch, and continuously channeled the Yin energy he had absorbed into Ji Xi's body.

Ji Xi's face was flushed and her whole body was trembling. Her newly broken-through cultivation level was stabilizing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

This Imperial Slave Palace truly lives up to its reputation as a wicked magical artifact gifted by Qiu Shaozhen; the pure yin female cultivators kept within are all excellent potential furnaces.

Dou Eqing spent only half a day, yet it was equivalent to more than a month of ordinary dual cultivation.

He looked at Ji Xi, whose breathing was gradually stabilizing, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips.

Not only that, several female cultivators in the Flower Picking Pavilion of the Purple Star Immortal Mansion also became his dual cultivation partners, all in order to help Ji Xi consolidate his Void Refining Realm cultivation as soon as possible, and even improve his cultivation.

Six months later, using magic, Ji Xi was put into the Ziwei Immortal Mansion and sent to the vicinity of the exit of the Ten Thousand Demon Cave by the Minotaur Demon. Dou Eqing witnessed Ji Xi forcibly breaking out of the Ten Thousand Demon Cave.

After Ji Xi left, Dou Eqing used the same method to get to the Demon Suppression Tower with the help of the Minotaur.

The tower soared into the clouds, its body, forged from an unknown material of black stone, entwined with blood-red runes, faintly exuding a sinister aura.

Dou Eqing then learned that in order to obtain the ancient magic crystal, one must break through the tower. Anyone who can break through to the fifth floor will not only obtain the magic crystal, but also have the opportunity to obtain the treasure that other cultivators dream of.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Dou Eqing stroked his chin, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

The stone tablet in front of the tower clearly reads in vermilion ink: "Human cultivators who venture into the tower face danger, but their lives are not in peril."

Dou Eqing naturally told everyone about this opportunity, and they were all eager to try it out.

As the group discussed the matter, they suddenly heard a series of demonic howls coming from inside the tower.

The demon guarding the first level was two realms weaker than the person attempting to break through the tower.

Upon reaching the second level, the demon advanced another small realm.

Dou Eqing's lips curled slightly, and his five fingers slowly closed—this kind of progressively challenging trial suited him perfectly.

Blood-red clouds surged atop the tower, as if awaiting a new challenger.

On the third level, the demons' cultivation levels are the same as those of the cultivators who have challenged the tower.

The fourth level of cultivation requires a level one of the higher cultivation realms required to enter the tower.

Following this logic, the ninth attempt might require surpassing the tower climber by two major realms.

Dou Eqing, upon entering the first level, determined the strength of the demon to be virtually invincible among its peers.

If a demon were to break through two major realms above the tower, he didn't know what kind of powerful being could possibly conquer the top floor.

However, when Dou Eqing reached the fifth level, he accidentally unleashed the Demon Slave Seal and easily defeated the demon.

Thus, he progressed smoothly and quickly reached the top of the Demon Suppression Tower.

"Boy, how about we make a deal? Just agree to one condition, and I'll teach you how to borrow the Tower of Suppression."

"What God-Suppressing Tower? Isn't this the Demon-Suppressing Tower?"

"The difference between gods and demons is but a thought. A strong person may call their opponent a demon, while they themselves are a god. I am the Demon God Xing Sha, or you may call me the God of Slaughter."

"God of Slaughter? Wait a minute, how can you speak like that? Shouldn't you be the guardian demon evolved from the Demon Suppression Tower?"

Dou Eqing belatedly realized that the demonic creature on the top floor actually possessed consciousness.

"No! The guardian monsters every day are formed from my original demonic energy and fragments of divine essence."

"What are Divine Essence Fragments? After a cultivator becomes an immortal, their primordial spirit transforms into an immortal essence body, and after the immortal essence body is cultivated into a true immortal, it becomes a divine essence body."

"Oh. That's not right. If that were the case, how could we possibly defeat them and pass the level?"

Dou Eqing became increasingly distrustful of what the other party was saying.

Only then did he begin to seriously examine the other person.

Only then did they realize that the monsters on the top floor looked exactly like humans.

He couldn't help but wonder—why didn't I notice the difference between this creature and the monster below so quickly?
You should know that the monster below doesn't look human at all; it's a round, multi-tentacle monster.

He remembered that when he first challenged the Demon Suppression Tower, he was in a swampy environment.

The guardian monster appeared as a dark purple ball of flesh, silently hovering above the swamp, its twelve tentacles covered with suckers twisting and writhing like living snakes.

It has no eyes, but a serrated mouth is split open in the center of the sphere, with three spiral teeth arranged inside, constantly dripping corrosive mucus.

Every time the tentacles slap the water's surface, they stir up dark green foam that smells of blood.

The most terrifying part was the tip of the tentacles—where a crack appeared, revealing countless amber-colored eyes.

These eyeballs move at different frequencies; some pupils shrink to pinpoints, while others expand to the entire eye socket.

When they all fixate on Dou Eqing and regard him as prey, they emit sound waves like a baby crying, causing the surrounding withered trees to shed their insect-eaten bark.

The miasma of the swamp swirled around it, and its tentacles sometimes sank into the mud to grab bones, and sometimes raised high to the sky, their suckers shimmering with phosphorescence like fireflies.

The spherical body expands and contracts with the rhythm of breathing, and fluorescent blue patterns resembling blood vessels appear on its surface, as if flowing lava is hidden under its skin.

Therefore, Dou Eqing named it a multi-handed monster from the very beginning.

After some thought, he realized that he had initially regarded the other party as the inheritor of the Demon Suppression Tower, or rather, as the spirit of the artifact.

Little did he know that the spirit of the tower was suppressing the true form of the demon god with all its might, and could not even spare a sliver of thought to communicate with the challenger.

The Demon Suppression Tower separates these demons for challengers to kill in order to weaken the power of the multi-armed demon itself.

Even if the challenger fails to kill the guardian monster, if the multi-armed monster finds an opportunity, it can follow the challenger out of the Demon Suppression Tower by infecting or possessing the challenger, which will also weaken the multi-armed monster's main body.

Seeing that Dou Eqing didn't believe him, the multi-armed monster had no choice but to reveal some more concrete information:
"To tell you the truth, my current strength is only one billionth of what it used to be. Therefore, the divine source fragments I mentioned cannot be called true divine essence fragments; it would be more appropriate to call them a trace of divine essence aura."

Upon hearing this, Dou Eqing instinctively asked:
"So, your original self really was a demon god, someone even more powerful than the newcomer?"

"The immortals here are nothing more than ants to my former self. It's a pity they are not called 'respects' because they are always at risk of being crushed by stronger beings like ants."

"The multi-armed monster sighed."

"What kind of Venerable are you talking about? Immortal Venerable, God Venerable, Heavenly Venerable, or Dao Venerable? That can't be right, how could a powerful person like you end up in a small place like ours!" Dou Eqing felt that what the other party said might be half true and half false.

"Alas! I don't know either. It's possible that a Venerable One will emerge from your small place sometime in the future."

Even the multi-armed monster was surprised when he said this.

Then her eyes grew brighter and brighter, making Dou Eqing feel as if he were seeing two suns in front of him.

"Your...Your...Your...What is your name?"

The multi-handed monster spoke incoherently, and although he was speaking to Dou Eqing, Dou Eqing felt as if he was talking to himself.

"Multi-armed Demon, what was your Taoist name when you were a demon god?"

Dou Eqing instinctively chose not to answer but to ask a question in return, as if he needed to wait for the other party to state his Daoist name before he was qualified to ask his name.

"The Thousand-Handed Slayer God possesses the purest bloodline of the Thousand-Tentacle Royal Family. He is the 9,999th Slayer Emperor of the Insect Realm..."

The multi-handed monster recounted almost his entire origins to Dou Eqing.

He was surprised when he said it, but it confirmed his suspicions.

Originally, he deduced the great karma from the Demon Slave Seal cast by Dou Eqing, and discovered that Dou Eqing possessed great karma. He wanted to make a deal with Dou Eqing to establish a connection with him and make connections for future plans.

Now, through face-to-face calculation, it has been learned that Dou Eqing's Demon Slave Seal has been linked to an existence that was once no weaker than his original self.

Then, he casually mentioned becoming the supreme ruler, which vaguely resonated with Dou Eqing.

This echo does not represent Dou Eqing's future achievements, but it does indicate that Dou Eqing will be involved with powerful figures in his life, whether through enmity or opportunity.

Therefore, it can be inferred that Dou Eqing's future path currently has no end in sight, which gives him the opportunity to help the multi-handed monster leave the Demon Suppression Tower.

Dou Eqing listened to the multi-armed monster's self-introduction as if it were a foreign language, unable to understand anything, only knowing that the other party was not a being from the Kunlun Realm.

"This guy obviously wants to make a deal with me. Even though his strength is much weaker than before compared to his original self, he should still have the combat power of an immortal from the Kunlun Realm, right?"
Wouldn't this be a tremendous opportunity for me? But if it backfires, escape will be difficult.

Dou Eqing pondered for a moment while responding to the other party.

"Since you're so frank, let's be open and honest. You let me all the way to the top floor, so just say what you have to say. Because of your cheating, I didn't get anything out of the challenge."

Not only would it be a wasted trip, but the return journey would be fraught with difficulties. Therefore, I don't want to linger here any longer; I'll leave once you've finished speaking."

"What are those small favors and benefits in passing the test? Although I was the one suppressed by the Tower of Suppression, I can let you use the Tower of Suppression to gain great benefits."

The multi-armed monster spoke earnestly and persuasively.

"What's the benefit?"

"Refine your primordial spirit, revert your bloodline to its ancestral form, and even suppress the heavens and earth!"

The multi-armed monster spoke forcefully to Dou Eqing.

Dou Eqing could understand some of the concepts of tempering the primordial spirit and bloodline reversion, but he had no idea what Zhenyue Tiandi meant, even though it sounded impressive.

However, Dou Eqing was in no hurry to ask. Instead, he first asked the multi-handed demon how effective the tempering of the primordial spirit and the bloodline reversion were.

"How do you temper your primordial spirit? And what about the concept of bloodline reversion?"

"You can directly refine your primordial spirit to the Void Refinement Realm. If you are already at the Void Refinement Realm, refining it to the Body Integration Realm will just take a little longer."

To further enhance one's primordial spirit cultivation, one must either completely refine the Suppressing God Tower or prepare some eighth-tier rare and precious materials necessary for primordial spirit cultivation.

Upon hearing this, Dou Eqing felt that tempering his primordial spirit was just what he needed.

If he were to elevate his primordial spirit to the Void Refinement Realm now, his cultivation level could directly break through to the Void Refinement Realm.

That was definitely worth the trip.

How long will it take? Are there any risks involved?

"You? Your primordial spirit is somewhat special, and it will take at least ten years. There are definitely risks involved, but if you don't advance beyond your current level, the risks can be managed."

Upon hearing this, Dou Eqing secretly began to make his own plans.

The primordial spirit is a cultivator's second life, and its importance goes without saying.

Even though a divine artifact like the Suppressing God Tower can enhance one's primordial spirit cultivation, it is still taking a shortcut.

If we're talking about the proper path of spiritual practice, taking fewer shortcuts is the best approach, as it ensures a solid foundation.

Thinking of this, Dou Eqing gave up the idea of ​​directly raising his primordial spirit cultivation to the Refining Void Realm, and only used the power of the Suppressing God Tower to temper his primordial spirit to be more solid.

As for what choices others make, that is their own decision.

"I already know the benefits you can gain from trading with me. So, what do you want in exchange?"

The multi-armed monster pondered for a long time, then suddenly raised its eight withered claws and said menacingly, "Give me my freedom!"

Dou Eqing was taken aback by what he heard; this demon spoke as if it were a confined servant.

The fierce battle on the fifth floor suddenly flashed through his mind—he had clearly struck the demonic slave seal on the crown of the gatekeeper demon, and watched it vanish into thin air.
Could it be...?

His pupils contracted slightly, and his knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists. "That Demon Slave Seal, tracing its origins, actually backfired on the original owner through the connection between the clone and the main body?"

This conjecture is absolutely correct.

It turned out that the multi-armed demon was the most curious. Sensing the ancient forbidden aura hidden in the Demon Slave Seal, it inexplicably took back the fragments of the guardian demon's divine essence to its own body.

Unexpectedly, the mark, like a malignant tumor, had already entangled his divine essence and soul core in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, the black iron chains on the eight wrists rattled, clearly revealing boundless hatred.

Clearly, when the true self instinctively merges with the fragments of divine essence to comprehend the Demon Slave Seal, it is as if the Demon Slave Seal has been planted within them without their knowledge.

Because he had already been afflicted by the Demon Slave Seal, the main body feared that the other tower-guarding demons would also be afflicted by the Demon Slave Seal, so that the Demon Slave Seal would descend upon the main body according to the principle of tracing back to the source, thus making the Demon Slave Seal completely effective on the main body, which allowed Dou Eqing to pass through and reach the top floor.

"If I can give you your freedom in the future, your conditions won't matter."

Dou Eqing said calmly.

He did not intend to reveal the matter of the Demon Slave Seal, nor did he intend to confirm whether his conjecture was true.

"Then let my other companions go straight to the top."

"No. The rules cannot be broken. Whether they want to temper their primordial spirit or enhance their bloodline, it won't be a problem in the lower levels of the tower."

……

Therefore, Dou Eqing and his group spent nearly ten years tempering their primordial spirits in the Demon Suppression Tower.

Moreover, they each released their mounts to upgrade their bloodline rank.

Dou Eqing's gluttonous dragon turtle and Feng Qiniang's snake-golden egg both received an enhancement of their bloodline, also known as bloodline reversion.

The Gluttonous Dragon Turtle, combined with the massive cultivation resources on Dou Eqing's body, elevated its equivalent to the sixth rank.

Its upgrade from the fifth to the sixth rank did not attract any lightning tribulation, thus concluding that the Suppressing God Tower is no less valuable than the Purple Star Immortal Mansion. It can even shield the senses of the Heavenly Tribulation, which also suggests that the Multi-Handed Demon is indeed not simple.

And Feng Qiniang's snake egg also showed faint signs of being born.

Based on time and other considerations, Dou Eqing decided to leave the Town God Tower.

He still has a business with the Kun Gu Demon Bull clan. If he stays here too long, it will not only affect his business with them, but it will also cause him a lot of trouble when he leaves the Ten Thousand Demon Cave.

As he was about to leave, Dou Eqing remembered what the multi-handed demon had said about "suppressing the heavens and earth".

"Tell me what Zhenyue Tiandi is."

"Based on the Suppressing God Tower, a self-contained world can be formed here. With sufficient resources, a world within a world can be created..."

The multi-armed monster was about to speak when Dou Eqing was teleported away by the Suppressing God Tower.

As soon as he came out, he was surrounded by five powerful members of the Kun Gu Demon Bull clan.

(End of this chapter)