Cultivation of immortality begins with an eighty-year-old eunuch.

A towering, blood-red beam of light shot up from Chen Fan's body, piercing the dark red sky and the firmament of this sea of ​​slaughter.

The pillar of light contained countless killing intents, each strand enough to shatter the mind and spirit of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Around the beam of light, the sky began to shatter, revealing a dazzling starry sky behind it.

After an unknown amount of time, the beam of light slowly receded.

Chen Fan stood still, without a trace of spiritual energy fluctuation around him, like an ordinary person who had never cultivated.

The ground beneath his feet had developed a spiderweb-like network of cracks emanating from him, each crack emanating a dark red glow.

His eyes regained their clear black and white appearance, and the red light deep in his pupils had completely disappeared.

Chen Fan raised his right hand, and with a thought, a tiny dark red rune appeared on his fingertip.

The rune was only the size of a grain of rice, yet it exuded a murderous aura powerful enough to chill even a cultivator at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.

This is the essence of killing.

No sword is needed, no spiritual power is needed; a single thought is enough to kill without leaving a trace.

Chen Fan stared at the rune on his fingertip, remained silent for a long time, and then slowly clenched his fist and crushed it.

He knew very well that this power was hard-won and would inevitably come at a price.

But at least at this moment he was conscious, not a puppet controlled by killing.

The wasteland before our eyes began to disappear.

The sky shattered completely, revealing a dazzling starry sky.

The white bones beneath their feet turned into starlight, scattering into the depths of the universe. The undead kneeling on the ground also vanished into nothingness along with this sea of ​​slaughter.

Chen Fan returned to that starry sky once again.

"You took ten years."

Ancient Demon Rosa appeared quietly and said:

"To comprehend the essence of slaughter within ten years—that's faster than I anticipated. And..."

His gaze swept over Chen Fan, lingering for a moment longer on Chen Fan's eyes, which had regained their clear black and white.

"You were not completely consumed by the killing intent. Although the killing energy within you is intense, it is still under your control. While you are immersed in killing, you have maintained your true self."

Rosa nodded slightly, her tone carrying a rare air of solemnity.

"This is even more difficult than simply comprehending the essence of slaughter. I have seen many geniuses in the past, some unparalleled prodigies who comprehended the essence of slaughter within three years, and others with great perseverance who barely managed to pass the test within thirty years. But among these people, less than one in ten could remain clear-headed and not be completely dominated by slaughter while comprehending the essence. Those who failed to preserve their true nature, even if they passed the test, were nothing more than slaughter puppets in human skin."

And you, though you too were corrupted by the intent of slaughter, though you too succumbed and lost your way, ultimately held fast to the very foundation of your soul at the last moment. This willpower is what I value more than your comprehension.”

Chen Fan bowed respectfully, his tone calm: "Senior, you flatter me. I'm just used to walking on the edge of a knife, so I'm simply being extra cautious."

"There aren't many people who can remain cautious in a place like this." Rosa nodded and didn't say anything more.

Chen Fan paused for a moment before asking, "Senior, I have a question to ask you."

"explain."

"I have spent twenty-two years in this sea of ​​formations and the sea of ​​slaughter," Chen Fan said softly. "Did these twenty-two years coincide with the flow of time in the outside world?"

Rosa glanced at him and said calmly, "Naturally the same."

The four words were like four giant rocks crashing into Chen Fan's heart.

His face seemed expressionless, but his hands, which were hanging in his sleeves, unconsciously clenched.

Chen Fan has spent a full twenty-two years in the trials of the Ancient Demon Inheritance.

It should be noted that, including the time he was trapped in these underground ruins, it has probably been twenty-five years since he was swept into this place.

Twenty-five years may not seem like a long time to a Nascent Soul cultivator, but it may not seem like a short time either.

If one were to break through in seclusion during normal times, it would be over in the blink of an eye.

The problem is that he wasn't in seclusion; he was trapped.

Chen Fan still remembered that when he left the sealed land, the seal of the Soul Refining Sect's ancestor would last for at most another hundred years.

If that old demon cannot be suppressed within a hundred years, the billions of living beings in the sealed land will become food for that old demon to recover his cultivation.

When Chen Fan left the sealed land for Tiannan Star, he had already planned to return as soon as he found the Mirror of Reincarnation.

But man proposes, God disposes; this predicament lasted for more than twenty years.

Chen Fan took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed his surging thoughts.

Worrying is useless.

He is currently trapped in this inheritance space, and there's no way to rush things.

Instead of being anxious, it's better to finish the journey ahead.

Only by surviving can we talk about anything else.

"Thank you for informing me, senior."

Chen Fan cupped his hands in greeting to Luo Sha, his tone returning to calm.

Rosa took in his reaction without pressing further, and continued, "Now that you've passed the second level, I might as well tell you some things in advance. The Killing Intent is different from your three Intents. The latter three can operate on their own after you comprehend them, without affecting your mind. But the Killing Intent is different. Its nature dictates that it needs to be constantly nourished by killing."

Chen Fan's brow twitched slightly.

"To master the killing intent and truly unleash its overwhelming power against others of the same level, one must kill relentlessly. The more one kills, the stronger the killing intent becomes. Conversely, if one does not kill for a long time, the killing intent will weaken on its own and may even turn against its master."

Rosa's voice was devoid of any emotion as she said:

"This is the destiny of the path of slaughter. Having chosen this path, one must bear its price. When I roamed the star fields, I had to launch a large-scale war every hundred years. This was certainly to expand the territory of the ancient demon race, but more importantly... I needed to kill. If I didn't kill, the Great Dao of Slaughter within me would turn around and devour me."

Chen Fan remained silent for a moment, then slowly nodded: "This junior will remember."

He didn't say anything more.

He had a vague premonition of this price when he first realized the side effects of the killing intent in the eighth year.

Now that Rosa had pointed it out, even the last trace of doubt in his heart dissipated.

Since we've chosen this path, let's keep going.

As for what happens in the future, we'll talk about that later.

"Alright, enough of this small talk." Rosa's tone regained its previous majesty. "You now possess four realms of intent. To master four realms with the cultivation of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator is something I have only seen a handful of people throughout my countless years of traversing the starry sky. Two of them even surpassed the Tribulation Transcending stage in their achievements."

After saying this, Rosa's gaze fell on Chen Fan, with a scrutinizing look and an indescribable expectation.

"Your future should not be underestimated. Perhaps one day you will truly reach that point, and then my waiting for you in this dark and sunless underground for tens of thousands of years will not have been in vain."