Chapter 26: The Eye of Hell
Lu You was finally tempted.
Not because of the parchment, nor because the Evil Eye could read ancient scripts, but because the Evil Eye had lived for tens of millions of years.
After coming to this world, what Lu You lacked most was social and survival experience in the cultivation world. Judging by the Evil Eye's behavior, it was definitely the kind of existence that everyone in the cultivation world wanted to beat up on sight. Yet even looking like this, it had managed to survive for thousands of years. That meant the Evil Eye must be extremely well-versed in the way of lying low and surviving. Combined with the infinite resources inside Lu You's small cauldron, wouldn't teaming up give them hope of achieving longevity?
Living long is the strongest power.
Lu You nodded and finally accepted the Soul Blood Contract of the Evil Eye. In the next instant, the Evil Eye excitedly turned into a streak of red light and merged into Lu You's eyes.
As the contract was completed, the Evil Eye's origins and functions were also revealed to Lu You.
Tens of millions of years ago, great powers of the cultivation world went to war over resources, plunging heaven and earth into chaos. Countless beings who were just one step away from True Immortality fell in that battle.
The Evil Eye was born at that time. The blood of countless great powers dyed the mortal world into hell, and the Evil Eye was born from hell. All of its abilities required the consumption of life essence to use, so cultivators of that era also called it the Eye of Hell.
This title had two meanings. The first was that it had witnessed the birth of hell. The second was that whoever used it would go to hell.
The only one who had ever contracted with the Eye of Hell was an evil cultivator who practiced blood sacrifice techniques. He constantly sacrificed living people to gain power, and after each sacrifice, he would casually share the life essence with the Evil Eye.
But that evil cultivator was later killed by righteous experts. The Evil Eye was hunted everywhere by the righteous path, forced to flee again and again. In the end, starved to the point of madness, it was captured while sucking blood and sealed in this ancient tomb.
Noticing that Lu You had finished reading its memories, the Evil Eye hurriedly transmitted a message into Lu You's mind: It's not that I'm weak—it's that I don't have any life essence to use! All my abilities require life essence to activate. For tens of millions of years, I've never once gone all out!
Lu You sighed. The contract was already signed—no refunds now. Still, after checking the Evil Eye's abilities, he felt a bit happier. Just as the Evil Eye said, its battle record over tens of millions of years was indeed weak simply because no one had been able to supply it.
The Eye of Hell's first ability was Blood Shadow. Anything the Eye of Hell had seen could be permanently recorded by consuming life essence. At any time, more life essence could be spent to replay it like a movie—even with fast-forward and slow-motion.
It was just that for tens of millions of years, no one had ever been willing to spend life essence just to record scenes...
The second ability was Illusory Control. By consuming life essence, it could turn those weaker than itself into blood-slave puppets, or it could consume life essence to interfere with an enemy's mind. The more life essence consumed—and the stronger the provider of that life essence—the stronger the interference.
Lu You's forehead was full of black lines. Controlling people weaker than yourself as puppets and still having to spend life essence? What kind of losing deal was that? No cultivator in their right mind would do this...
The final ability consumed massive amounts of qi and blood to condense the Hell Avatar, manifesting the power of the great beings who had fallen in the war of hell. But even if a cultivator exhausted all their life essence, they couldn't summon a complete avatar of those great powers—at most, they could summon a skeletal projection, and even then it could only attack once. The user would be turned into a dried corpse afterward, and against powerful enemies, sometimes they couldn't even manage mutual destruction.
What a ridiculously useless divine artifact.
But it's perfect for me!
Lu You glanced at the infinite life essence inside the small cauldron. That meant he could use the Eye of Hell's abilities freely without ever worrying about overdrawing.
"The Eye of Hell—open!"
Lu You's eyes suddenly turned blood-red, his pupils transforming into the shape of the Evil Eye. At the same time, he controlled the small cauldron, channeling an endless stream of life essence into the Eye of Hell.
"Hell Avatar—arise!"
A mass of blood mist suddenly wrapped around Lu You. In the next instant, the mist condensed into a gigantic skeleton. Slowly, flesh and blood filled in over the bones, transforming it into a towering crimson giant that reached the heavens and stood upon the earth.
Evil Eye: Insane, boss! You're the first to ever activate the complete form of the avatar. You're the number-one person in cultivation history!
Hahaha—Lu You felt a surge of heroic pride and couldn't help but laugh up at the sky. "Evil Eye, tell me—how strong is my Hell Avatar in combat?"
Evil Eye: Way too insane. It jumps an entire realm. This Hell Avatar can now fight against the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm.
Huh?
The smile on Lu You's face froze. "Isn't the Hell Avatar supposed to wield the power of those fallen great beings? Why does it still need to burn massive amounts of cultivation origin blood just to fight the peak of Foundation Establishment?"
Burning life essence was burning life itself—how could a secret art fueled by lifespan be this weak? According to Lu You's mental expectations, once supplied with infinite life essence, he should at least be able to rival Golden Core cultivators.
Evil Eye: Boss, even great beings' avatars depend on who's using them. None of those great beings had mixed spiritual roots—and none of them were only at the fifth level of Qi Refining.
Seeing Lu You's face darken, the Evil Eye hurriedly changed its tune: But boss, your life essence is infinite. Even geniuses born with immortal spiritual roots can't compare with you. As you grow stronger, the Hell Avatar will only grow stronger. If you one day ascend to immortality and then burn endless immortal life essence, wouldn't turning the immortal realm into hell be easy?
Yeah, no one should be too greedy. Being able to fight the peak of Foundation Establishment while only at the fifth level of Qi Refining would already make him a once-in-a-generation prodigy in any era.
Lu You comforted himself and slowly withdrew the avatar.
Seeing that Lu You had finished testing the ability, the Evil Eye hurriedly said: Boss, that parchment is a body-refining cultivation technique and also the formation core of this ancient tomb. The tomb is about to disappear, we should leave quickly. If some righteous cultivator discovers the two of us and kills you, I'll starve again.
"You've been hunted for too long, so you're not used to it, but the two of us are righteous cultivators now," Lu You spat. Then he realized he was still dressed in red, carrying the name of Dongfang Bubai. He hurriedly stripped off the clothes, burned them with a beginner Flame Talisman, then stripped fresh clothes from the corpse of a Verdant Cloud Sect disciple. After that, he scattered a handful of Teleportation Talismans and appeared outside the back mountain before the ancient tomb even vanished.
Evil Eye: Boss, great move. With your treasure, the two of us won't be afraid of being hunted anymore. Quick, quick—let's find a remote mountain forest, disguise ourselves as wild men, cultivate in peace, and absolutely don't go out to cause trouble. Just cultivate honestly—if you live forever, I'll have food and drink forever too.
"No one is hunting us right now," Lu You suddenly realized that this Evil Eye was basically a coward who'd been traumatized by starvation—not demonic at all. If it were truly a demonic cultivator's artifact, shouldn't it go on a killing spree the moment it was unsealed?
But that suited Lu You just fine. "What's the fun in being wild mountain men? Your boss has a much more comfortable identity lined up."
Lu You activated the Divine Speed Talisman and Light Rock Talisman, racing back to the Verdant Cloud Sect's spiritual fields at lightning speed. "My current identity is a Verdant Cloud Sect disciple. Where could be safer to cultivate than within a famous righteous sect?"
The Evil Eye was thrilled: Hahaha, I never thought I'd live to see the day I cultivate inside a righteous sect.
But when they arrived at the spiritual fields, the Evil Eye became aggrieved again: What the heck? I, the dignified Eye of Hell, am actually being made to farm fields for a second-rate sect? Fine, fine—hiding in plain sight, lying low, lying low...
<+>
Patreon Account: https://www.patreon.com/collection/1960529?view=condensed[1]
Latest Chapter In Patreon: Chapter 74: Breakthrough[2]
Link to the Latest Chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/154371282?collection=1960529[3]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1960529?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/154371282?collection=1960529
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/154371282?collection=1960529