Nuwa, the goddess of immortality, said that cultivating immortality does not require spiritual energ

Somewhere in the celestial realm, scattered weak chaotic beasts roam.

In the present-day Heavenly Realm, apart from heavily fortified fortresses and war zones, many peripheral areas present this scene: most people are at the mortal level, and even Earth Immortals are quite rare.

At this moment, a figure clad in dark red armor and wielding a spear wreathed in malevolent energy stepped into this desolate area.

It's Ye Hongli.

She was surrounded by a dark gray chaotic aura, her aura cold and disordered, just like those traitors of the Three Realms who had thrown themselves into chaos.

The wandering Chaos Beast sensed the presence of living beings, its scarlet eyes darted around, locked onto Ye Hongli, let out a low roar, and then pounced from all directions.

Ye Hongli stopped and looked up. In her signature crimson eyes, there was no panic, but rather a flame of almost frenzied excitement.

"You even know to come to me..." A cold smile curled at the corner of her lips, her voice light and cheerful: "Then... I'll just say you're sensible."

Before she finished speaking, she moved.

His figure moved like a streak of crimson lightning, crashing headlong into the horde of chaotic beasts! His spear transformed into a deadly blood shadow, each thrust and sweep precisely tearing apart the body of a chaotic beast.

She didn't use any fancy spells or complicated techniques, only the most primal and violent efficiency in killing. Wherever her spear touched, the Chaos Beasts fell like harvested stalks of wheat.

More than twenty minutes later.

Within a radius of a hundred meters, no more Chaos Beasts could stand. Mutilated corpses lay scattered about, and black blood stained the ground, making it filthy.

Ye Hongli put away her gun and stood still, her breathing steady, as if she had only done a trivial matter.

She walked to the center of the battlefield and began to use the tip of her spear to pick up the corpses of the Chaos Beasts and pile them together into a small mountain of corpses.

After doing all this, she faced the mountain of corpses and quickly formed several complex and sinister hand seals with her hands.

hum-

A pure black vortex with constantly twisting and tearing edges silently condensed above her head, then slowly descended, completely enveloping the entire pile of corpses.

chi chi chi...

A sickeningly painful sound of erosion and dissolution rang out. The pile of corpses rapidly decomposed and liquefied within the black vortex, eventually transforming into wisps of pure gray-black air, which were then swallowed up by the center of the vortex.

In just over ten breaths, the mountain of corpses had vanished without a trace, leaving not even a speck of dust behind.

The black vortex dissipated.

The chaotic energy that had originally swirled around Ye Hongli became visibly denser and more solid, as if it had absorbed enough nutrients.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and a blush and smile appeared on her face, almost intoxicated and sickly.

Just then, a palm-sized, pitch-black phantom, shaped like a miniature stone tablet, quietly appeared on her shoulder.

It is the spirit of the Fayuan Stele.

Its sound was steady, hollow, and devoid of any emotion, like the sound of some kind of precision instrument:

"Little girl, if you keep consuming like this... when you break through to the Earth Immortal realm and face the tribulation of your inner demons, I'm afraid you won't be able to get through it."

"I don't think I can't get through this."

Ye Hongli opened her eyes, her smile unchanged, but deep within her crimson pupils surged an almost obsessive madness and absolute confidence.

"Even if you narrowly escaped the Earth Immortal Tribulation," the spirit's voice remained calm, yet each word was clear: "What comes next? Once you enter the demonic path, your inner demons will be like a bone-deep infection, always with you. With each major breakthrough in your cultivation realm, the power of your inner demons will surge and backfire. Can you guarantee... that you'll win every time?"

From the outside, Ye Hongli, surrounded by chaotic energy, is seen as a traitor.

But in reality, she did not truly betray him.

She simply... embarked on a wrong path that had long been considered a dead end by cultivators of the Three Realms, a path no one dared to tread again—

The Demonic Path!

The path of demonic cultivation is completely different from the righteous path.

They don't focus on cultivating one's character or moral character; they only seek to quickly increase one's strength. As long as there is a suitable demonic technique, they can forcibly improve one's cultivation level through methods that are almost like plundering and devouring.

Even laws can be ruthlessly stripped and devoured from the world by demonic cultivators with their surging cultivation, turning them into their own, without the need for righteous cultivators to painstakingly comprehend them.

However, the price of rapid progress in the demonic path is the eternal companionship of inner demons.

As long as you live, your inner demons will remain.

Each time a cultivator breaks through a major realm, the power of their inner demons will surge and backfire. If they cannot suppress or defeat these demonic forces, they will be devoured by their own inner demons, their souls scattered.

"I believe I can do it," Ye Hongli said confidently, her crimson eyes blazing. "Besides, didn't you also say... that someone has walked this path before?"

"You are not the Lord of War." The spirit of the monument finally showed a very faint fluctuation in its voice, which sounded like a sigh, yet also like a warning: "Moreover, the Lord of War does not cultivate the demonic path alone. He cultivates both righteous and demonic paths, unlike you."

Chi You, the God of War, is the only one who is universally acknowledged to have successfully navigated the demonic path.

Even he followed the path of cultivating both righteous and demonic paths, with each path checking and balancing the other, and he once left a warning: the demonic path is a dead end; those who are tired of living can try it.

Those who followed tried one after another, but all failed, and countless died and their paths disappeared. Over time, no one dared to touch this path anymore.

No matter how talented Ye Hongli is, can she surpass that War Lord?

"Senior." Ye Hongli suddenly chuckled, her tone carrying a hint of cynical indifference: "What's the use of saying all this now? I can't turn back now."

The spirit of the monument remained silent for a moment.

"Sigh..." A very soft sigh came from the miniature stone tablet, revealing a rare, complex, and human emotion: "I... am starting to regret it. You'd better take care of yourself."

As soon as he finished speaking, the phantom of the monument spirit quietly disappeared and returned to the depths of Ye Hongli's sea of ​​consciousness.

The spirit of the monument initially tacitly approved, or even encouraged, Ye Hongli's path to the demonic path.

There are two reasons: First, the cultivation technique Ye Hongli obtained from elsewhere is unique; second, the spirit of the monument wants to take this opportunity to let her try to infiltrate the traitors and obtain intelligence.

I also want to see if the power of demonic arts can become a special weapon in the brutal war that has lasted for more than a thousand years.

Seeing Ye Hongli's current state, the spirit of the monument did feel a pang of regret.

It's not that it fears she might spiral out of control and become a major enemy of the Three Realms—with the power of the Stele Spirit, it has its own means to restrain or even eliminate her. If things truly get out of control, it can even invoke its creator, Fuxi, to return.

What it regretted was that it had used her and led her down this thorny and dangerous path.

It once lit the beacon of enlightenment for countless human cultivators and bestowed upon them the foundation of their cultivation techniques, but now it has become the force that pushes a junior into the abyss.

This heavy feeling of having made a mistake by his own hands caused the ancient being's mind to become unusually unsettled.

Hearing the spirit's sigh, Ye Hongli merely twitched the corner of her mouth without responding.

She knew the spirit's original plan.

But she doesn't care.

For her, embarking on the path of evil was a liberation, a shortcut.

With her inherently destructive and obsessive nature, she would never go far on the orthodox path of immortality. Even comprehending the laws and becoming an Earth Immortal would be a pipe dream, let alone achieving the unwavering goal in her heart.

Gripping the increasingly crimson spear in her hand, Ye Hongli calmed her mind and continued to roam this desolate land, searching for and hunting lone Chaos Beasts, devouring them, and growing stronger.

About an hour later.

As she continued her search for the Chaos Beast, a figure quietly appeared.

She was a woman dressed in a dark green dress, with a charming face but cold eyes. She was also surrounded by pure chaotic energy, her aura obscure, clearly indicating that she was not weak.

She is a true traitor to the Three Realms.

The woman looked Ye Hongli up and down, and a hint of doubt flashed in her eyes when she saw the chaotic energy around Ye Hongli that was the same as her own.

"I seem... to have never seen you before," the woman said, her voice soft yet scrutinizing. "When... did you convert to the Holy Lord?"

Ye Hongli's heart stirred slightly, and she quickly adjusted her expression, lowering her eyelids to strike a pose that was just right—both respectful and distant—and said in a low voice:

"Just two days ago."

Although she didn't care about the original undercover mission of the spirit, since she had encountered a real traitor, it seemed harmless to give it a try.

More importantly, if she could infiltrate the traitors' ranks, she might have the opportunity to directly access the purer and more powerful primordial chaos energy.

She would never let this temptation slip by.