In the outskirts of the Demon Imperial City stood an enormous mountain, a place to which very few people had permission to approach. That mountain had become the seclusion site of the Demon Lord. In the last three months, he had completely modified the place. Using extremely complex profound formations, he altered the flow of the heaven and earth energy around the mountain, drastically increasing its concentration. The result was an environment with incomparable profound energy. Over time, the place came to be considered practically sacred for the profound practitioners of the realm. Because of this, it ended up adopting a name that soon stuck throughout the Illusory Demon Realm: the "Venerable Demon's Immortal Mountain."
It rose like a black spear against the night sky. Its slopes were covered by ancient forests, tall trees that seemed to have existed forever. Among the rocks, crystal-clear rivers meandered slowly, carrying such dense spiritual energy that even the air seemed faintly luminous under the moonlight.
A soft mist enveloped the top of the mountain.....
For ordinary profound practitioners, just staying in that place for a few hours would already be equivalent to entire days of cultivation in normal regions.
It was deep night.
The full moon hung high, bathing the peak in a silvery glow that mingled with the blue veil of the mists. The silence was absolute, broken only by the occasional whisper of the wind, as if the world itself breathed in harmony with the heavens...
At the mountain's peak, there was a small stone plateau. Ren Zu was sitting cross-legged on a smooth and ancient rock, naturally carved by time and profound energy. His black eyes were closed, his body motionless like a statue of black jade. The white robe with golden embroidery of the Golden Crow rippled slightly with the breeze, but there was no sign of breathing or movement.
At that moment, his body was undergoing a terrifying transformation.
He had finally entered the Divine Origin Realm.
When a cultivator reaches this realm, a qualitative change occurs in their vital energy. The profound energy begins to temper the body again, purifying every part of it and elevating it beyond the limits of an ordinary mortal. Gradually, the practitioner begins to free themselves from the limitations of mortal flesh, gaining a much longer lifespan, extraordinary vitality, and an incomparably more resilient body.
The Divine Origin Realm was the first true stage of the divine path and, at the same time, one of the most important realms in all of cultivation. It was in this realm that practitioners established the foundation for all their future progress. During this process, the body underwent a profound transformation, evolving from the ordinary to something close to the divine.
And at the height of this transformation, something extremely rare emerged: the awakening of the body's "Sensation."
However, fewer than one in every ten thousand cultivators managed to achieve this state. In fact, there were countless experts from the Divine Tribulation Realm and even the Divine Spirit Realm who had never awakened this ability throughout their entire lives.
But in his case... it happened naturally.
He awakened the "Sensation" with ease.
This Sensation was a mysterious and almost miraculous ability of the body, a kind of profound perception that united body and soul in perfect harmony. It could not be cultivated directly, nor explained with words or taught by someone.
It was something that could only be felt... and understood through personal experience.
It also allowed him to look more deeply into himself.
His thoughts traversed his entire life. From his past life, when he was just an ambitious salaryman trying to climb in life, to his current life, which at the beginning had been marked by frustration and resentment. At that time, he believed he was nothing more than a simple secondary character in someone else's story, the protagonist who had taken his wife and most of the opportunities that could have been his. ....
In his mind, that always seemed like an unbearable humiliation. He believed that if their positions had been reversed, all those things he had gained so easily would have been his. Because of this, he felt as if he had been demoted by someone he considered inferior.....
It was this feeling that led him to make a radical decision: abandon any illusion of justice and assume the role of the villain. If that story already had a protagonist, then he would become the antagonist who would step on him and destroy his journey.
And, in the end, he had succeeded. Three months ago, his goal had finally been achieved.
During this path, he had made countless morally questionable decisions. Still, he had never really stopped to reflect on them. After all, for him, everything was simple: he was the villain of the story. And that title had become a convenient justification for anything he had done....
But now... sitting silently at the mountain's peak, with his body and soul undergoing a profound transformation, his thoughts began to change in a subtle way. That newly awakened sensation within him seemed to slowly cleanse the layers of emotion, pride, and resentment that had shaped his decisions for so long. He began to realize something he had never really considered before.
The idea of "protagonist" and "villain"... was, at its core, just a story he had told himself....
...Because he couldn't accept that he was living in a real world. In his mind, everything always seemed like the continuation of a pre-written story, a script where each person occupied a defined role.
And it was precisely this way of thinking that trapped him.
By seeing the world as a narrative, he also began to see himself as a character within it. And, almost unconsciously, he ended up placing himself in direct opposition to the so-called "protagonist."
For a long time, he believed that pursuing and killing that trash was inevitable.
Now, looking back with a clearer mind, it seemed almost... childish.
Not that he regretted what he had done. On the path of cultivation, regret was a useless emotion. The decisions had been made, and their consequences simply were part of the path he chose to tread.
But recognizing that something was unnecessary... was different from regretting it. He realized that he had wasted a considerable amount of time and energy pursuing futile emotions of the human heart; greed, pride, envy, or any other similar feeling that had guided his decisions at that time.
And the first step to maturing is realizing your mistakes and learning from them....
That was why, during the last three months, he had spent a lot of time reflecting on all this. In the future, he intended to take a period to live as an ordinary person and travel through the three continents, experiencing the world in a simple way and accumulating new life experiences.
But that would still be for later, about nine months in the future.
For now, there were more important things to do. In the following months, he intended to focus on completely stabilizing his position as Ruler of the Blue Pole Star, while spending more time with his wives...
He spent more than two hours enjoying the "sensation" to understand more about himself and what he wanted to do; during this time, he advanced nonstop through the Divine Origin Realm.....
....First Level of the Divine Origin Realm!
....Second Level of the Divine Origin Realm!
....Third Level of the Divine Origin Realm!
....Fourth Level of the Divine Origin Realm!
....Fifth Level of the Divine Origin Realm!
He had accumulated an enormous amount of profound energy in his Profound Veins, so much that his body even felt some discomfort because of it. Even so, while advancing through several consecutive levels during his breakthrough, he had consumed less than a third of all that accumulated energy...
....Sixth Level of the Divine Origin Realm!
....Seventh Level of the Divine Origin Realm!
....Eighth Level of the Divine Origin Realm!
....Ninth Level of the Divine Origin Realm!
....Tenth Level of the Divine Origin Realm!
It was at that moment that he crossed the barrier to the Second Stage of the Seven Divine Profound Realms: the Divine Soul Realm.
If the Divine Origin Realm represented the transformation of the body, then the Divine Soul Realm was the transformation of the soul. Upon reaching this stage, a profound practitioner's soul undergoes a fundamental change. It ceases to be something ordinary and begins to elevate to a truly divine level.....
This evolution greatly strengthens the cultivator's willpower, mental power, and spiritual stability. At the same time, their perception of the world also expands. The understanding of profound arts, natural laws, and the energies that govern the universe becomes much deeper than before. In other words, reaching the Divine Soul Realm meant that their soul had finally transcended the level of an ordinary mortal.
While feeling the deification of his soul, all the profound energy he had accumulated began to stabilize completely within his profound veins. At the same time, his cultivation continued advancing nonstop, rising level after level until finally reaching the peak of the Seventh Level of the Divine Soul Realm.
Only when he reached this level did he realize that he had finally consumed all the profound energy he had accumulated.
The profound strength now flowing through his veins was simply unimaginable.
If before his energy could be compared to a small lake, now the difference was absurd. Currently, he was like an entire star formed purely of profound energy, radiating a vast and overwhelming power.....
Only then... his eyes opened slowly.
The eyelids lifted slowly, as if that simple movement carried the weight of a transformation that had taken years to mature. Two black eyes emerged under the silvery moonlight, clear, calm, and indifferent..... Different from before, they now possessed a beauty difficult to describe; it seemed like something that existed beyond the dust and smoke of the mortal world. It was as if all the flames of mundanity, all greed, ambition, hatred, pride, and human illusions... simply could not touch that gaze. Not even stain the tranquil purity that was there.
If someone had been present at that moment, they might have had the strange sensation of looking at something that did not completely belong to the human world.....
Ren Zu remained sitting in silence.
His eyes observed the night sky. Everything seemed extremely clear to him... clearer than it had ever been before.
The transformation of his soul had elevated his perception to a completely different level. His senses were sharper, his mind more lucid, and his understanding of the world much deeper.
But it wasn't exactly that to which he referred when he thought that "everything was clear."
What had really changed was within him.
His heart was incredibly tranquil, like a deep lake whose waters were not disturbed even by the smallest wave.....
He remained motionless for a long moment, his black eyes fixed on the vast night sky, where the stars twinkled like fragments of eternity. Then, a calm smile appeared on his lips, subtle, almost imperceptible, but laden with profound serenity.
".... after all, this is the harshness of reality, and also the beauty of destiny. In this world, everyone is a main character, but everyone is also a secondary character."
His words came out low, almost a whisper to himself, but they contained a depth within the simplicity that was difficult to describe. They were not mere empty philosophy; they were the essence of an understanding that transcended ego, pride, and the illusions that had driven him so much in the past. It was as if, looking back, he finally saw the world not as a defined story, but as a chaotic and beautiful flow where every soul struggled, shone, and extinguished in equal measure.....
At that moment, a soft red light appeared beside him.
Jasmine emerged from the Sky Poison Pearl, her small and ethereal form floating in the air like a living flame. Her red hair rippled slightly with the night breeze, and her black eyes fixed on him with a mixture of curiosity and irritation. She crossed her arms over her chest, her chin lifted in her habitual princess pose that he had grown accustomed to seeing in the last three months.
"...What profound words for someone who just woke up from meditation....." She commented, her voice low and laced with sarcasm: "This princess didn't expect you to turn into a philosopher overnight. Congratulations on the breakthrough, anyway. Although it's bizarre that not even this princess can discern exactly what your cultivation level is now. But from your sudden good mood, it's clear that you've advanced quite a bit."
Ren Zu sighed lightly, the smile still on his lips as he turned his face to look at her.
"Wasn't that a bit contradictory what you said? Not being able to see through my cultivation and at the same time perceiving that I advanced? I believe it's quite hard to notice an advancement just from a person's mood, especially with me who keeps calm even in this kind of situation....."
Jasmine snorted softly, floating a little closer with her arms still crossed.
"Actually, no. This princess is very perceptive. You hide it well, but I notice these subtle changes. After spending three months with you, it became easy to notice something like that...."
Ren Zu shook his head slowly, his black eyes reflecting the silvery moonlight.
"Well, I'm a simple man to understand, I think.... Anyway, you're right. I advanced both in mentality and in profound strength. It was an... enlightening experience. But I lost a few hours here; I have to go back soon...."
Jasmine snorted again upon hearing his words. Her small ethereal body floated a little higher, her arms still crossed firmly in front of her chest as she averted her gaze for a moment, as if slightly bothered by something.
"...So you mean now that you've finished your miraculous meditation and become all 'enlightened'... you're going to go back to spend time with those women?" She said, with a slight displeasure in her voice.
Ren Zu raised an eyebrow. His black eyes remained calm, but a faint amused gleam appeared in their depths.
"Hmm?" He tilted his head slightly as he looked at her: "Careful, Jasmine. I almost thought you were jealous...."
For a brief second, Jasmine froze in the air.
Then...
"W-...What?!" Her face instantly turned red: "W-What are you saying, you arrogant idiot?! Who would be jealous of you?! This princess just finds it irritating that you spend more hours on human trivialities instead of dedicating yourself to traversing the Profound Way!"
Ren Zu let out a small low laugh.
"I see... so it's just irritation."
Jasmine turned her face with a "hmph," her arms crossed tightly again.
"Of course it is."
Ren Zu observed her small figure for a few seconds. Then he sighed softly.
"Well... in a way, you're right. For the next nine months... it will probably be that."
Jasmine furrowed her brows slightly.
"But after that..." He continued calmly: "...I'm going to go out to gather the necessary materials to rebuild your body."
The wind at the mountain's peak seemed to stop for an instant.
Jasmine remained completely still in the air. Her black eyes widened slightly. For a moment... she simply said nothing. The expression on her face changed subtly, something that rarely happened....
"...Hmph! It seems you remember what you promised this princess!"
Ren Zu observed her calmly.
"Of course." He replied as if it were something completely obvious: "I promised; I'm not the type of person who doesn't value my promises...."
Silence hung between the two again.
Jasmine's eyes shone slightly. She quickly turned her face to the side, trying to hide the expression.
Ren Zu just smiled lightly. After a few seconds, he changed the subject.
"Speaking of which..." His gaze returned to her with a slight interest: "There's something I've wanted to ask for a while."
Jasmine recovered part of her habitual posture and looked at him again.
"What?"
Ren Zu tilted his head a little.
"Could you teach me the Star God's Broken Shadow?"
Jasmine raised an eyebrow. She wasn't surprised that he knew about her movement profound art. After all, Ren Zu possessed a lot of information about the Realm of the Gods, so it was natural to imagine he had learned something about it during the time he spent there.
In fact... it was even convenient.
She had to contain the small smile that almost appeared on her lips. Quickly recovering her habitual arrogance, she spoke:
"...You want to learn the movement art of the Star God Royal Family? Hmph. Normally, I would only teach this to a disciple of mine. But, honestly, not even this princess believes you've reached a high enough level of accomplishment on the profound path for it to be worth accepting you as a disciple."
She crossed her arms and continued, with a slight disdain in her voice:
"But... considering it's you who will help me recover my body... fine. This princess will teach you. However, don't expect it to be easy."
Ren Zu just smiled calmly.
He was almost certain that the real reason she wanted to teach him had nothing to do with that. Most likely, Jasmine just wanted an excuse to spend time with him without him being surrounded by his wives.
But he said nothing about it.
Instead, he just asked:
"When do we start?"
Jasmine snorted, although a faint gleam of satisfaction passed through her eyes.
"Right now."
___________________
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