CHAPTER 288: BAIT!?

In hand, Chun Ma had no conventional way to solve this problem. However...

"I have a way," he said coldly to the Heavenly Demon.

"Really?" The Heavenly Demon’s body trembled violently. His hand, poised to move the piece, froze midair. "H-how!?"

"I cannot extend your life," Chun Ma’s voice deepened, "but I can grant you immortality."

"Immortality?"

At the mere mention of the word, the Heavenly Demon began to salivate, drool gathering at the corner of his mouth. "Is that... truly possible?"

"Yes," Chun Ma replied, his gaze unwavering. He cleared his throat before continuing, "There is a way to obtain immortality... and someone in this world has already achieved it."

"Ho." The Heavenly Demon exhaled deeply, slumping back into his chair. His eyes lingered on Chun Ma for a long, heavy moment before he finally spoke, his tone solemn:

"What is it? If you’re lying to me, I swear I’ll destroy you with everything I have, even if it costs me my life."

"Okay." Chun Ma tilted his head slightly, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes at how exactly the Heavenly Demon planned to do that. Still, he continued. "Do you know of the Shadow Faction?"

"The Shadow Faction!?" The Heavenly Demon’s eyes flew wide, his mind scrambling to process the implication. "You’re telling me, someone in that place has truly achieved immortality?"

"That’s right." Chun Ma’s eyes never left the Heavenly Demon, studying every twitch of his expression. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Have you noticed any changes in that place?"

"I... I’ve only heard that the faction’s leadership has changed hands. As for anything else, it’s been kept tight-lipped." He swallowed hard, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his temple as the implication behind Chun Ma’s words began to sink in.

’He’s really gone senile... his temperament is nothing like the Heavenly Demon I once knew. He’s so weak now, I can hardly believe it...’ Chun Ma sighed inwardly, a flicker of pity lingering in his heart. ’The fall of such a formidable man...’ even he found it difficult to watch.

He also realized just how desperately the Heavenly Demon clung to life. Perhaps, if he were in the same position, his own thoughts wouldn’t be so different.

"Does the Shadow Faction’s leader truly have immortality? How is that even possible!?" The Heavenly Demon’s voice cracked, his body trembling as fear took root in his bones.

"That’s right." Chun Ma paused deliberately, letting the weight of his words settle like lead. Then he continued, "Do you know about Death Energy?"

"Death Energy!?" The Heavenly Demon’s eyes widened in shock. "You mean that legendary force said to be the bane of all living things?"

"Yeah," Chun Ma replied evenly. "Death Energy is the bane of all living things but if you master it, you can achieve immortality. The leader of the Shadow Faction has done exactly that, mastered Death Energy and attained complete immortality."

"Don’t ask how I know," he added in a sharp tone. "It’s the truth. And if you truly wish to live forever, that may be your only path."

"What do you want me to do?" The Heavenly Demon’s hand trembled. "Are you suggesting that our Demonic Cult should attack the Shadow Faction and capture him?"

"That’s right." Chun Ma’s voice softened casually, as he reached over and took the Heavenly Cultivation Book from beside the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon remained lost in thought, barely noticing as Chun Ma moved about freely. After a long silence, he finally spoke, just as Chun Ma was about to leave.

"Are you absolutely certain the Shadow Faction’s new leader is immortal? If you’re wrong, are you prepared to face the consequences?"

Chun Ma paused mid-step, then slowly turned back. A faint scoff escaped his lips.

"My job was to deliver the information. Do you have any idea how unimaginably valuable it is? Believe it or not, it’s your loss."

Without another word, he turned and walked out.

The Heavenly Demon sat frozen in place, silent and expressionless, as still as stone.

Time slipped by in the blink of an eye. The Heavenly Demon remained motionless in his seat, as if the world itself had ceased to matter.

Eventually, dark clouds rolled across the sky, and heavy rain poured down. Yet he sat unmoving, the downpour drenching him, his vacant eyes fixed on nothing.

Then, just for a moment, a faint spark ignited in those lifeless pupils.

Slowly, the Heavenly Demon rose to his feet and lifted one hand.

From the shadows, a guard stepped forward, kneeling on one knee before him.

"Prepare for war against the Shadow Faction," the Heavenly Demon commanded coldly.

"Yes, Master." The guard’s voice was flat as he disappeared into the darkness.

Left alone, the Heavenly Demon narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint flickering within them.

"I’ll trust you this once, my disciple but if you were lying—" his voice dropped to a low whisper.

***

Chun Ma casually walked out of the residence of the Heavenly Demon and stretched his body. He was calmly thinking in his heart; he had already laid out the trap, and now it was a waiting game to patiently wait for the Heavenly Demon to bite the trap.

As for thinking that Gang Reyong would lose?

He simply scoffed at the possibility that even if the eleven Transcendent Martial Artists united, could they fight a whole army alone?

Gang Reyong had made significant progress and become a powerhouse on his own, especially with the Martial Arts that he had created with the boost in comprehension.

One of them even allowed him to gather the strength of his undead into himself and fight.

This was terrifying in itself, as it signified that he wasn’t completely defenseless even if his illusion didn’t work with his Ghoul Will.

Thinking of all these things, he looked around him in confusion.

"Where should I go?" Chun Ma didn’t feel that the training was any use to him now; even the chains that bound his arms and legs were nothing more than baggage that didn’t help him improve by much.

With his genius skill, he was confident that he could quickly break through the First-stage Martial Realm and reach Transcendent. Also, Chun Ma had to investigate how those twelve were able to break through and reach Transcendent.

If there were only one or two, then it could be understandable because of their talent, but all twelve of them have reached Transcendent?

There was definitely something fishy going on here; he could smell it from a mile away.

Chun Ma had a lot of work cut out for him.

"Too much work." Grumbling, he went to an inn and stayed there, despite the horrifying look that the owner gave him.

Then Chun Ma sat cross-legged on the ground and started to meditate.

His Aetherion had already strengthened his Will, and it had now merged with his body.

Although he seemed similar to a normal demonic First-stage Martial Artist, he was actually vastly different.

His energy was very dense and pure, likely because the Mana and the Demonic Qi gave his Will an explosive attribute.

This allowed his Will to be more powerful and versatile.

It also opened a door in front of Chun Ma, allowing him to create different martial arts if he wished to do so, which would be similar to the Spells.

Of course, this was no easy feat, and he had not been able to do so.

Chun Ma studied the last steps of the Heavenly cultivation technique.

The fourth step allowed him to directly become a Transcendent Martial Artist, the fifth step allowed him to become a Heavenly Martial Artist, and the last sixth step allowed him to become a Divine Martial Artist.

A Divine Martial Artist was considered the peak of the Martial World, and only a few people in history had reached it.

Well, only three were known publicly: one came from the Orthodox Faction, one from the Demonic Faction, and the last came from the Shadow Faction.

If one didn’t come from the Demonic Faction, then there likely wouldn’t be the Heavenly Cultivation Book in Chun Ma’s hand that allowed him to reach that level, would there?

Anyway, for one to reach the Transcendent level, as the name suggests, he needed to break through his mortal limits.

This was literally the way according to the Cultivation Technique: he needed to continuously break his mortal body in succession until his Will was pushed to the limits and started to expand on its own.

It was an extremely painful process that blocked 99.99% of people from advancing into the Transcendent Martial Realm from the First-stage Martial Realm.

However, with his genius talent, it shouldn’t be hard for Chun Ma. The only difficulty he faced was when he had to convert Qi into Demonic Qi and then merge it with Mana.

That was the most time-consuming part, but now everything was as smooth as butter.

And Chun Ma immediately went into cultivation. Once he reached the Transcendent Rank, he could finally try to uncover the secrets of the twelve heavens.