Chapter 126

Chapter 126: Devil Seed Information

A new prompt appeared: “Insufficient value. You can only exchange for partial, incomplete information. Confirm exchange?”

Li Shuang’s expression shifted.

A Sixth Tier treasure was not even enough to buy full information. What kind of thing was this Abyssal Devil Seed? She decided at once: “Exchange.”

There were many strange points about Ye Zhao Zhao. Her gut told her that if she could get complete information about the Abyssal Devil Seed, all her doubts would be solved. But the Abyssal Devil Seed was too scary, so scary that even the Heaven and Earth Furnace could only return a few question marks. [I do not think the Furnace is weaker than the Abyssal Devil Seed. It just restarted not long ago and still needs time to grow.]

“Exchange successful.”

In the next moment, a short entry appeared.

“Abyssal Devil Seed, from the Heaven Severing Lands. This Devil Seed is called Parasitic Devilspawn. Parasitic Devilspawn lives by relying on a Host. After meeting certain conditions, it can steal the power of others to grow. In the end, it will devour the Host, become a True Devil, and walk the Mortal Realm.”

Li Shuang’s pupils tightened.

Heaven Severing Lands.

She had only seen the name in old records. The stories said it was the most fierce and evil place in the world. Even experts at the Tribulation Crossing Stage would face near-certain death if they entered. As for Devil Seeds, she had never even heard the term before.

From what the Furnace gave her, this Abyssal Devil Seed came from the Heaven Severing Lands, and there were many kinds. The one the Furnace sensed was called Parasitic Devilspawn. That meant there were other types of Abyssal Devil Seeds as well.

How many Devil Seeds were already hiding in the world today? How strong had they grown?

Li Shuang steadied herself and read on: “Parasitic Devilspawn is formless and bodiless, hard to detect. It has only three chances to parasitize. Once all chances are used up, no matter how much power it has absorbed, the Devil Seed will transform into a True Devil. A True Devil has form and substance and can be destroyed.”

The information ended there, all bought with a single Sixth Tier treasure.

Was it worth it?

Very worth it. If not for the Heaven and Earth Furnace, even an Eighth Tier or Ninth Tier treasure would not be enough to trade for this.

Li Shuang forced herself to digest every piece. Then she took out two Fifth Tier treasures and asked two questions: “Is the Parasitic Devilspawn on Ye Zhao Zhao? Is Ye Zhao Zhao’s parasitic target me?”

The Furnace drew in the treasures and answered.

“Yes! Yes!”

Both answers were yes. Li Shuang’s pupils tightened again.

In that instant, many things that had never made sense suddenly fell into place. The strange points about Ye Zhao Zhao all lined up.

In the image from before, Ye Zhao Zhao’s muttering had been her talking with the Abyssal Devil Seed. Ye Zhao Zhao did not need to cultivate yet her realm kept rising because she had parasitized Li Shuang. Li Shuang had trained bitterly, yet her realm did not grow, because the Devil Seed helped Ye Zhao Zhao steal Li Shuang’s hard-won power.

Those ten years had been so hard for Li Shuang. Her cultivation, once rising fast, suddenly stopped. Her Master and Junior Brother, once kind, began to speak harshly to her.

All that time she could not understand why. [Did I do something wrong, so Heaven chose to punish me?] She also could not understand why Ye Zhao Zhao hated her so much and wanted her dead. She had never wronged Ye Zhao Zhao. When Ye first joined, Li Shuang had treated this Junior Sister with care and never favored others over her.

Now Li Shuang understood.

The Host of the Parasitic Devilspawn had to meet certain conditions before it could rob others. Ye Zhao Zhao flattering Immortal Ling Xu and the others and pressing Li Shuang down had all been to meet those conditions. To push Li Shuang into the dust was to open the way for theft.

But Li Shuang had crawled back out of the dust. So Ye Zhao Zhao kept suffering backlash. The sudden growth in Li Shuang’s realm and the sudden drop in Ye Zhao Zhao’s realm were the Devil Seed’s backlash at work. No wonder the returned strength felt so natural in Li Shuang’s hands. [Because this power was mine to begin with.]

What Li Shuang had worked so hard to build had been stolen. When Ye Zhao Zhao was hit by backlash, part of that power came back.

With the Furnace’s information and her own experience, Li Shuang pieced together most of the truth.

“You cannot do this to me!” Ye Zhao Zhao shouted nearby.

By sect rules, the Disciplinary Hall was ready to carry out punishment.

Li Shuang looked back, frowning. She remembered one line from the entry: the Parasitic Devilspawn had only three chances to parasitize. Which number was it on now?

The Devil Seed was formless and bodiless. Only after finishing all three tries would it show its True Devil body, and then it could be killed. Before today, the Heaven and Earth Furnace had never reacted to it, likely because of that formless trait. The Devil Seed had fused with Ye Zhao Zhao so completely that even the Furnace could not sense it.

Now the Furnace had suddenly captured its information.

Did that mean the Devil Seed wanted to change Hosts?

It made sense. Ye Zhao Zhao’s name was ruined. The Righteous Path would never accept her again. If the Devil Seed wanted to keep feeding, the best move was to switch Hosts. It was very likely already preparing to leave Ye Zhao Zhao, which was why the Furnace could finally sense it.

Li Shuang’s face grew solemn.

If it were up to her, she would never let the Devil Seed switch.

First, once it switched, it would hide again and be hard to find.

Second, Ye Zhao Zhao’s true nature had been exposed. From now on, people would guard against her. She would struggle to stir up trouble.

But if the Devil Seed found a new Host, everything would change.

What were the conditions for switching Hosts?

As Li Shuang was still thinking, Immortal Ling Xu stepped forward and ground out: “Sect Master, Ye Zhao Zhao’s character is vile. As her Master, I share the blame. Let me abolish her cultivation with my own hand.”

He glanced at Li Shuang, face full of pain and shame, and said: “Little Shuang, I was blinded by Ye Zhao Zhao and kept wronging you. When I expelled you, that palm, it must have hurt. Today I will make the true culprit hurt worse.”

Li Shuang’s gaze stayed cool.

She did not care how much of his speech was true. His regret was probably real, but not because he expelled her. He regretted that expelling her had dragged him into trouble. [At his core, he is only very selfish.]