Volume One: The Nature of the Devil Never Changes
Arc: The Great Guerrilla War
Long Wei stared into Scarlet King's eyes, lowering his head slightly as he raised his voice in clear anger at Scarlet King's insult:
"You little brat…
how dare you call me a dog?"
Scarlet King smiled mockingly and returned his gaze:
"I never said that…"
"But if that's what you felt… then that's your problem."
"You're the one who chose to describe yourself as a dog."
He spread his arms and shrugged.
"I didn't expect the leader of the Dragon Gang… to insult himself before I even could."
Long Wei clenched his teeth hard, while Scarlet King folded his arms.
"You'd rather insult yourself… before someone else does."
Long Wei clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white, then spoke with barely restrained fury. Grabbing the bars, he unleashed a powerful aura that pushed Scarlet King slightly backward. It was a radiant golden-yellow aura, blazing like an enraged dragon erupting from a volcano:
"If you dare, say it again to my face now!"
Scarlet King laughed lightly and replied:
"Why would I repeat words I never said in the first place?"
Long Wei was suddenly interrupted when the guard returned, dragging the assassin who had previously tried to kill Scarlet King:
"Alright, Sir Gu Yue, I've brought you the assassin."
Scarlet King answered while completely ignoring Long Wei's boiling rage:
"Yes. And put Qi shackles on him and on Long Wei as well. We don't want any trouble on the way there."
He thought inwardly as he looked back at Long Wei, as though staring at a hopeless case beyond saving:
(People like Long Wei, who think of nothing but anger, never meet a good end. The slightest provocation throws him into a rage. This is not the mindset of a wise man who controls everything on his board.)
The guard stepped forward, opened the cell, and shackled Long Wei as well, binding him with chains connected to the assassin. Scarlet King continued thinking:
(Living a long life in solitude, reflecting deeply on the pettiness of humans, made me realize that most people are far too emotional. The moment you break free from the circle of feelings and emotions, control them, and make them move with you instead of against you—that is when true ascension begins.)
The guard handed Scarlet King the end of the chain so he could lead both Long Wei and the assassin.
"Sir, are you leaving now, or do you need anything else?"
Scarlet King did not answer. He only gave the guard a black, bottomless stare, then started moving, dragging Long Wei and the assassin behind him.
He pulled them along, climbed the stairs, and left the underground prison cave. Suddenly, he felt a tremor in the Poison Pearl. The Princess was contacting him:
(Scarlet King, can you hear me?)
Scarlet King answered her while flying through the sky:
(Yes, I hear you.)
Tian Sha Gongzhu spoke:
(I feel a strange spiritual pressure.)
Scarlet King was about to wonder about it, but suddenly he felt as though something was trying to attack his mind—something like a drill boring into his consciousness.
Scarlet King halted abruptly in midair. This puzzled Long Wei and the assassin, but neither of them spoke.
Scarlet King entered his own mind.
Scarlet King's mind was a place filled with books and endless library walls, stretching and expanding infinitely beyond what a person could sense or see. Beneath those libraries was white mist like clouds, and above them was a clear yellow sky.
Scarlet King looked around. He was in his natural form—a young man around thirteen or fourteen years old, with one black eye and one white eye, and black-and-white hair.
He immediately noticed the spirit of an old man in spectral form. The old man spoke in shock:
"What is this place by the heavens!?"
Scarlet King looked coldly at the old man with white hair and a light beard:
"You are inside the consciousness of the Devil of Rebirth."
The old elder was horrified. Fear and shock spread across his features.
"W-what!!? I'm meeting the Devil of Rebirth!?"
He shouted at the top of his lungs:
"I can't believe it! I died and tried to escape with my soul using the Soul Reincarnation Technique, so I could be reborn in the body of the weakest nearby person—but by terrible luck, I ended up inside the consciousness of the Devil of Rebirth!!"
Scarlet King thought as the library constantly shifted and the books changed every second:
(I had sensed a battle happening beneath us while I was trying to return to the Heavenly Food Sect of the Righteous Path. It turns out this old man died and tried to reincarnate again, but entered my consciousness instead to take control of it and become the one in command. Unfortunately for him, that is impossible.)
The elder looked around in terror and said:
"What is this place, great Lord Devil of Rebirth!?"
Scarlet King laughed and smiled unnaturally.
"This place? It is consciousness, and you know that. But clearly you're asking why my consciousness is shaped so differently."
Scarlet King thought:
(A cultivator has the body, the soul, and the consciousness. The body is the physical form, which can be refined and strengthened in its raw natural power. The soul is where the Sea of Knowledge is born—a place for training and strengthening the soul, for spiritual and mental cultivation, and the seat of fundamental memories. Consciousness is where the Sea of Spirit exists, containing awareness and thoughts. But I am different. My Sea of Spirit is a library of memories and thoughts, because I have reincarnated an uncountable number of times. Every new life's memories begin in the Sea of Knowledge, and after death and rebirth, those memories move into the Sea of Spirit at the center of consciousness.)
The old man interrupted Scarlet King's thoughts, bowing as he did:
"Great sir, what do you think of helping me reincarnate again into a new body? I'll become your obedient servant."
Scarlet King gave the elder a long look, closed his eyes, folded his arms, and continued thinking:
(And this Sea of Spirit normally does not open at all unless a person has reincarnated more than once, so that their memories don't become tangled in the Sea of Knowledge. Those memories are transferred into the Sea of Spirit at the center of consciousness, usually in the form of bubbles. But mine is different. Because I can control my Sea of Spirit, I built layers of defense and structure into it, so that everything would remain organized for me—and difficult for others to deal with.)
He looked at the elder coldly.
"This is the place of my memories. You know I have lived longer than anyone, so naturally the place containing my memories would be very large."
The elder approached one of the books and asked:
"Why does your consciousness take the form of a library?"
Scarlet King answered:
"Try it… and you'll know."
The old man touched one of the books, and suddenly thousands of events, memories, emotions, pain, and suffering flooded into him. He grabbed his head tightly, feeling as though his mind would burst, and screamed:
"What is this? Are these memories!!?"
Scarlet King replied:
"Every book is one of the lives I have lived, with its events, suffering, pain, emotions, and power. When you touch a book, you witness the memories I lived."
The old man suddenly screamed, collapsing to his knees while clutching his head:
"Damn it! This hurts so much… the suffering, the pain, the hardship, all of it is destroying my soul!"
Scarlet King thought:
(A single life affected him to this extent. So what am I supposed to say, when I have lived an uncountable number of different lives?)
Scarlet King sighed impatiently and spoke:
"If you hadn't touched that book, old man, you might have survived today. I might even have helped you become a new piece on my personal chessboard. But excessive knowledge kills its owner."
Suddenly, thousands of books flew out and hovered behind Scarlet King. He took one of them into his hand.
"Every life is a life… and your life belongs to me now."
The books shot toward the old man and began entering his consciousness. That drove him mad, and he screamed with deadly hatred:
"Damn you, devil!!!"
The first book entered his mind, pouring new memories into his head and driving him to his knees.
The second book entered, and he began forgetting himself.
(Who am I?)
But suddenly a powerful aura burst from him and formed a black shield around his body. The shield then transformed into a giant arrow, like a spear, and the elder screamed:
"If I die, you'll die with me too!! This is my final trump card!! Spiritual Ability—Heavenly Spear Shield!"
The spear shot toward Scarlet King—but a giant white hand appeared and caught it, stopping it a hair's breadth from Scarlet King's face. Scarlet King had not moved even a strand of hair. The hand crushed the spear, shattering it until it vanished.
The old man screamed:
"H-how!!?"
Scarlet King replied, pointing with his hand as the books started flying toward him again:
"I am the master here. That means I control everything."
The third, fourth, and fifth books entered him… The elder's soul began to break apart from the overwhelming suffering, pain, and overlapping memories that shattered it. Scarlet King smiled like a devil and said:
"This is the price of excessive knowledge. If you hadn't touched the book, you'd be in a new body by now!"
The elder's soul began breaking into pieces—first his arm, then his ear, then his jaw, then his other arm. At last, the old elder looked at Scarlet King in sheer terror, screaming without a jaw:
"H-help me!"
Suddenly, the elder's head exploded, and his soul evaporated like a mirage.
The books returned to their places in chaos, shifting positions and forms once more. Then White Darkness and Black Darkness appeared. White Darkness said:
"My lord, we felt a disturbance in the center of the memory-consciousness. Did something happen?"
Scarlet King answered calmly:
"It's nothing. Nothing happened. Return to your places now."
Scarlet King looked at the yellow sky, thinking deeply:
(Every life is a life…)
(And I have lived more than I should… But in the end, every life is still a life. All of them are meaningless in my existence without eternal rest. Everything else is unworthy of pursuit.)