If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

tear-

A soft cracking sound as flesh tore open.

It was so clear it was jarring.

Zhou Yang's skin, starting from his brow, was cracked inch by inch. Every newly opened wound oozed beads of blood. Black lines, like living centipedes, crawled rapidly along the cracks. They first formed a spider web on his forehead, then spread downwards, covering his chest, arms, and neck.

The pain was like a tsunami.

Every inch of his flesh felt like it was being pierced by countless steel needles and then violently churned. His bones groaned in unbearable agony. His consciousness was on the verge of being overwhelmed by the excruciating pain.

No.

You must not faint.

Once consciousness fades, you're at the mercy of that thing. It's a dead end.

Zhou Yang clenched his teeth so tightly that blood seeped from his gums. He bit down hard.

Click.

I bit my tongue so hard I shattered it.

An overwhelming, pungent, metallic taste exploded in his mouth. The excruciating pain was like a bucket of ice water poured over his head, forcefully pulling his consciousness back from the brink of collapse.

He used all his strength to activate the meager amount of true energy from the "Innate Yang Technique" within his body.

This cultivation technique is extremely yang and powerful, but right now his body is filled with corpse poison and that foreign evil will. As soon as his true energy circulated, it was immediately devoured completely, without even a ripple.

They're no match at all! The gap is too big.

He stared intently at the system panel in the void, which only he could see.

Lifespan: 17 years, 3 months, and 8 days...

The red numbers were still jumping wildly, and the rate of decline showed no sign of slowing down. Watching his lifespan rapidly slip away, Zhou Yang felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart.

He can't just give up like that.

"Suck all of this dry!!"

This roar wasn't from his mouth, but a howl he uttered with all his will.

The moment the command was issued, the flashing red warning on the system panel stopped abruptly.

The entire panel seemed to freeze for a second.

next second.

A suction force far more domineering and thirsty than ever before erupted from between Zhou Yang's eyebrows!

The corpse poison in his body was no longer a simple tearing and biting, but under the guidance of the system, it transformed into a real, bottomless vortex!

The black tentacle piercing his brow was instantly straightened and taut. Then, amidst the terrified "trembling" of the immortal envoy's will, it began to be slowly...drawn back into Zhou Yang's body!

The suction is getting stronger and stronger.

Zhou Yang felt like his body was being hollowed out. His skin cracked even more severely, with black lines almost covering his entire body. He was like a piece of porcelain about to shatter, as if he might fall apart at any moment.

Something strange happened.

Just when Zhou Yang felt he was about to collapse, an extremely pure energy suddenly flowed from the tentacle that had been sucked into his body.

The lifespan number on the System panel actually started decreasing at a slower rate.

"Consumption: Lifespan per year, -23, -22, -21..."

The numbers went from plummeting to fluctuating at a steady pace.

Immediately afterwards, a line of small gold text appeared at the bottom of the panel.

[High-level pure energy detected; the "Innate Yang Technique" has begun automatic conversion...]

Another line of small print appeared.

[Negative Status: The Celestial Envoy's Will is Eroding. Status is being mitigated...]

Offset? Zhou Yang was taken aback.

What followed were changes within the body.

The corpse poison was no longer simply destructive. Under the guidance of the "Innate Yang Technique," this violent power actually began to transform! It turned into scorching torrents, no longer consuming each other, but twisting into a single rope, actively surging towards the black tentacle between the eyebrows!

The efficiency of devouring and transforming is greatly improved!

As the last black tentacle was pulled to his brow, a massive flow of information, mixed with fragmented images, surged into his mind like a flood bursting its banks.

Cold. Dark. Damp.

The echo of water droplets falling on the bluestone slab is ethereal and far-reaching.

Tick, tick, tick.

The screen flashed.

He saw a vast underground space. The dome of the space was inlaid with countless luminous pearls, emitting a faint, cold light, but it could not dispel the bone-chilling cold.

In the center of the space was a bottomless pool of blood. The blood was viscous like paste, bubbling eerily, and its pungent, fishy stench seemed to overflow from the scene. Countless human remains floated in the pool of blood.

Above the blood pool floated a dragon-shaped crystal. The stone was about the size of a tabletop, entirely reddish-gold, with what appeared to be flowing golden rivers within it, radiating an aura of supreme power.

Dragon Vein Eye!

The Imperial Advisor's lair!

Beneath the palace!

These fragments of information, like a red-hot branding iron, were seared into his mind. This was the next instruction left by the "Immortal Envoy" to the Grand Preceptor, and also the most crucial secret of that lair.

The screen disappeared.

The system's voice boomed directly into Zhou Yang's mind. Unlike the emotionless, mechanical voice of the past, this time, the voice carried an indescribable majesty and antiquity.

"Detection indicates that the core will fragment has been fully absorbed."

"System privileges have been elevated."

"Functional module refactoring".

Before my eyes, the simple system panel suddenly transformed into streams of light. They swirled and danced in the air before finally converging again. The new interface became even simpler, and even more mysterious.

At the bottom, a brand new icon has appeared.

Zhou Yang's thoughts cautiously reached out.

[Lifespan conversion].

A line of introductory text slowly appeared.

"It can actively convert the devoured 'divine matter/high-level essence blood' into pure yang lifespan. The conversion rate depends on the purity of the essence."

No longer do we need to kill them.

There are no longer any strict restrictions.

If he could get his hands on these things, he could actively change his lifespan! What did that mean? It meant he wouldn't have to risk his life anymore, gambling with those desperate criminals!

As long as he finds the source of high-level energy, he can "recharge" indefinitely!

Zhou Yang's pupils suddenly contracted. An unprecedented surge of ecstasy instantly dispelled all the pain within him. This ecstasy was ten times more intense than when he first used the system's techniques to defeat and kill Fang Tian!

He tilted his head back and opened his mouth.

A roar, suppressed to the extreme, exploded from his chest!

"ah--!!!"

This roar carried endless pain, the release of surviving a catastrophe, and a greed and longing for the future!

The sound wasn't directed at any enemy. Instead, it was directed at the tentacle within his body, clinging to life and being rapidly digested by the system!

With that roar, the torrent of masculine energy that had just been transformed within him erupted completely!

puff!

Like a soap bubble that has been popped.

That incredibly tough black tentacle, along with the last trace of fear emanating from it, was instantly shattered into dust!

Almost at the same moment.

The void barrier before them, that eerie membrane that isolated the blood pool from the outside world, emitted a clear, mournful cry.

A tiny crack appeared in the very center of the barrier.

Within the cracks lies pure, all-consuming darkness.

An irresistible suction force suddenly emanated from the crack.

Zhou Yang's body, along with the rubble beneath his feet, was instantly swept up. He was out of control, like a leaf caught in a whirlwind, flying straight toward the dark crack.