The Plan to Become Stronger

As Féng Yè had stated, even among the eccentric endeavors of the Shan Hai Collective, Ren Qi was an anomaly among anomalies.

According to research by specialists in the field, the fastest period for a Spirit Wielder’s strength to grow was during their first hundred years after embarking on this path.

Within this century, a Spirit Wielder’s innate talent was most evident; the further they progressed, the slower their power would advance.

While it sounded like nonsense, the individual who proposed this theory had gathered numerous living examples to support it.

From peerless geniuses to the most ordinary individuals, their growth in strength consistently aligned with this conclusion.

Indeed, as this research gained wider recognition, more and more people began to grasp the immense disparity in talent that existed between individuals.

For a considerable period, a wave of negativity spread among many Spirit Wielders, impacting a significant number of them.

Ren Qi was one such individual.

Initially, he refused to believe this theory, dismissing it as the ravings of a madman.

Yet, reality delivered a harsh blow.

From the moment he could remember, he had yearned to grow stronger, to become an unparalleled powerhouse.

He had continuously poured tremendous effort into this pursuit, but it had never yielded an equivalent return.

He only attained the Tier-1 after turning twenty.

Driven by desperation, he then staked his entire fortune, barely reaching the Tier-2 after thirty.

His methods had been so brutal and extreme that they caused significant, irreversible damage to his body, even hindering his future growth in strength.

Now, nearing thirty-five, he was far from touching the threshold of the Tier-3; he even felt stuck at the beginner level of the Tier-2.

This caused him to waver, making him believe the ‘Century Theory’ held truth.

He also befriended several Spirit Wielders who had lived for many years, and their accounts were largely consistent.

Before the age of one hundred was a period of rapid growth in power.

After a century, ascending a major tier required an incalculable amount of time; centuries or even millennia without any progress were considered normal.

‘Perhaps those old geezers are simply getting lazy in their old age, or maybe they’re lying?’ Ren Qi tried to console himself.

However, what truly shattered his psychological defenses were the geniuses he envied and resented.

The President of the Heaven’s Will Bureau was the only peerless genius in the entire Sacred Dynasty Nation since the Third Era to reach the Tier-6 before the age of one hundred.

Their growth in strength progressed so rapidly, year by year, that they seemed to have traversed the entire path of a Spirit Wielder.

Then there were the younger talents, led by Mù Qīngyǔ, who had reached his current level before even turning twenty.

They would undoubtedly leave him far behind within a few years.

Each time Ren Qi saw news reports about these prodigies, the jealousy within him threatened to explode.

‘Why can they grow strong, but I can’t?’

Completely consumed by negative emotions, he began to seek a path to power without regard for the consequences, even if it meant abandoning his moral bottom line.

Thus, he joined the Shan Hai Collective.

On one hand, it was a gang, free from the strictures of official organizations.

Ren Qi, accustomed to the laxity of the Heaven’s Will Bureau for so many years, also didn’t have to worry about immediate repercussions.

Here, Ren Qi encountered many others like himself, desperate to grow stronger by any means necessary.

He felt he had finally found the right organization.

But his inherent talent was undeniable; ordinary methods simply wouldn’t work for him.

At this point, only one option remained: the otherworldly demon.

Despite it being the most perilous path, Ren Qi no longer cared.

Even the Shan Hai Collective’s clear rule, ‘No association with otherworldly demons,’ couldn’t deter his ambition.

Ren Qi even thought the Shan Hai Collective was a sham, a worthless gang whose name was undeserved.

He suspected their leader was merely a pleasure-seeking wastrel, completely unaware of who served under them.

Having made up his mind, Ren Qi initiated his plan.

Leveraging his minor achievements within the Shan Hai Collective, he acquired an otherworldly demon egg, concealing it in the back mountains of Wufeng City and nurturing it step by step.

Prior to this, Ren Qi had received an assignment to infiltrate the Heaven’s Will Bureau.

His subsequent rise to the position of a Branch Head’s aide made concealing his secret remarkably easy.

Neither the Heaven’s Will Bureau nor the Shan Hai Collective detected anything amiss with him.

However, the plan was not without its hitches.

He once attempted to fuse pieces of the otherworldly demon’s flesh with an ordinary puppy.

The result was the accidental creation of an inferior otherworldly demon, which then escaped its hiding place.

For several nights afterward, Ren Qi couldn’t sleep.

Every evening, he would go into the mountains to search for the escaped otherworldly demon.

He continued until he found its corpse, with only its head remaining.

Once the otherworldly demon’s development was nearly complete, Ren Qi began to deploy it in real combat.

He randomly selected suitable ‘unlucky individuals’ to test the strength of this nine-headed otherworldly demon, and the results were satisfying.

The consecutive cases, as expected, caught the attention of the Heaven’s Will Bureau.

Ren Qi now had no retreat; it was only a matter of time before his secret was discovered.

He was prepared to betray both the Heaven’s Will Bureau and the Shan Hai Collective simultaneously.

As long as his strength was sufficient, any number of enemies could be dealt with with a mere clap of his hands.

Ren Qi even fantasized about establishing his own ‘Shan Hai Collective.’

Even if it couldn’t expand nationwide, dominating a local area would be enough for him to enjoy a life of pleasure and luxury.

Unfortunately, this plan went awry precisely when he was executing its final objective.

“I had already added something to the tea you always drink, so my little dog could tear you to shreds.”

As Ren Qi spoke, his voice filled with resentment, and his gaze shifted to Xǔ Tiānlí.

“But you, and the appearance of your master, constantly disrupt my plans.”

The previous kidnapping and this current attack had both spiraled in directions he absolutely did not wish to see, all because of Xǔ Tiānlí and Qín Yuè’s involvement.

He never would have dreamed that Xǔ Tiānlí, a Tier-1 Spirit Wielder, could not only defeat a Tier-2 opponent but also leave a Tier-2 otherworldly demon utterly defeated.

Ren Qi knew better than anyone just how powerful this nine-headed otherworldly demon truly was.

Even Féng Yè could only fight it to a stalemate.

How could this young man actually heavily injure it?

“So, you’re also like those monsters.”

“Huh?” Xǔ Tiānlí didn’t quite understand what the man was saying, only sensing that he had been mentally unstable since his arrival.

Ren Qi’s original plan had been simple: have the nine-headed otherworldly demon defeat Féng Yè, then absorb him.

This would perfectly conclude its cultivation.

Ren Qi didn’t dare to imagine how powerful a Tier-2 otherworldly demon could become after absorbing a Tier-3 Spirit Wielder.

If it became a Tier-3 otherworldly demon, he would be ecstatic.

Such an entity would certainly draw the attention of the Heaven’s Will Bureau; there were only a few recorded instances of Tier-3 otherworldly demons in the entire Sacred Dynasty Nation.

After it absorbed Féng Yè, Ren Qi intended to directly merge with it, claiming this terrifying power for himself.

This was the entirety of his plan: to grow stronger through a method that sent shivers down one’s spine.

With the plan compromised, Ren Qi had no choice but to alter his strategy, abandoning the absorption of Féng Yè.

The otherworldly demon was already severely wounded.

He dared not gamble; if either Féng Yè or Xǔ Tiānlí unleashed another burst of power, all his efforts would be in vain.

Given the circumstances, the safest way to end this farce was to proceed.

“Come here, my good child.”

At Ren Qi’s beckoning, the nine-headed otherworldly demon approached him slowly, like an obedient pet.

Ren Qi gently stroked a few of its heads before extending his hand to its chest.

Xǔ Tiānlí wanted to stop him, but lacked the strength.

Féng Yè also wished to intervene, but the short blade from earlier still carried a potent venom that he had to suppress with all his might.

During the cultivation phase, Ren Qi had implemented a small ‘clever design’ within this otherworldly demon.

As a dazzling purple light flashed, both their bodies were drawn into the radiance.

The otherworldly demon’s pained shrieks and Ren Qi’s maniacal laughter intertwined, becoming as twisted and malevolent as their merging forms.

Finally, as the purple light receded, a completely new figure appeared before Xǔ Tiānlí and Ren Qi.

It was no longer a Spirit Wielder, nor could it be called a complete otherworldly demon.

It was a monster Xǔ Tiānlí had never imagined possible.

How could a human fuse with an otherworldly demon?

What kind of evil was this wicked sorcery?