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Chapter 84: Another Vision?
"Aish, I’ve already told you not to worry about that. I promised you I’d help rebuild the Yu family."
Aldrian waved his hand, considering this a fulfillment of his promise. Yu Ruomei stood up and looked at him, feeling lucky to have a son like Yu Fenglian, who brought her fortune in the form of Aldrian. She glanced at Xin Haotian and the others approaching, then excused herself, not wanting to disturb them.
"So, are we going to attend the meeting?" Eleine asked as they drew closer.
"Yes, I’d feel bad if I refused the invitation, especially since the sect master of the Piercing Heaven Sect personally invited me."
The others were stunned.
"That man invited you? That’s surprising," Xin Haotian said.
"Do you know him?"
"I’ve only seen him twice, both times when the demonic cult held a banquet at the temple of the Heavenly Demon in the core of the Piercing Heaven Sect. What I can say is that he is a man with the highest attainment in demonic arts, and his pride as a demonic cultivator is immense. He’s also a true fanatic of the Heavenly Demon. You could say he’s a true demonic cultivator in every sense."
The man with the highest attainment and pride? Now Aldrian wondered what could make the sect master of the Piercing Heaven Sect invite him. Was this just a setup to catch him off guard and finish him off after the chaos he’d caused? Based on Xin Haotian’s description, Aldrian was growing more curious about their meeting.
"We’ll see what happens," Aldrian said.
He continued talking with his group for a while before heading to visit Yu Fenglian. The nine-year-old boy was playing with his peers in one of the manor’s courtyards. He smiled more often now, like any child his age should. The other children, ranging from five to nine years old, had also gathered to play. When Aldrian arrived, they all crowded around him.
"Big brother, why did you come?"
"Are you going to play with us?"
"Tell us a story!"
Their cheerful voices made Aldrian smile. He was glad he had let Yu Fenglian bump into him that day. These were children who had fallen victim to the cruel reality of the cultivation world, and the environment of demonic cultivators had only made things harsher for them than in orthodox cultivation. Aldrian mingled with them for a moment before pulling Yu Fenglian aside for a private talk.
"Yu Fenglian, how are you doing?"
"It’s good. My condition is much better than a few days ago, thanks to you, young master."
"Good. Now that you’ll be the young master of the Yu family, it’s your responsibility to continue your family’s legacy. I hope to see you stand tall—for yourself, your mother, and your family."
Yu Fenglian’s eyes trembled before he quickly bowed.
"I’ll do my best to uphold my family’s legacy. This is also my way of repaying you for giving my family a second chance."
"Good." Aldrian ruffled Yu Fenglian’s hair.
With the young boy named as the successor and the support of the three great sects, Aldrian could now rest assured, knowing the Yu family would be able to stand on their own. When he made a promise, he always made sure to fulfill it to the fullest. With nothing more to do for the Yu family, Aldrian decided to visit a specific place. After everything that had happened since his arrival in the demonic territory, he chose to make this city his first domain.
Using his teleportation, Aldrian swiftly arrived at the Eastern Peak, where a cultivation sanctuary under the control of city lord’s manor was located. After the manor’s destruction, this sanctuary had fallen under the control of the three great sects.
At the top of the Eastern Peak, Aldrian noticed guards from the sects stationed at various points. Investigations were still ongoing, and the sects were keeping the place under close scrutiny. Aldrian, however, didn’t concern himself with them. With a simple teleportation, he entered the inner part of the sanctuary, effortlessly evading the guards. Thanks to his stealth and movement techniques, even cultivators at the duke stage would struggle to detect him. Besides, he doubted the sects had deployed anyone at the grand duke stage here.
He was now inside a vast pavilion exuded an abundance of heaven and earth energy. With such richness, even cultivators at the duke stage would find their cultivation greatly enhanced—a fact that would drive most cultivators mad with desire. Aldrian continued walking toward the source of the energy, where it felt the strongest.
He stopped at a giant red door marked with complex sealing formations. From its appearance, it seemed the three great sects had yet to open it. After inspecting the seals, Aldrian guessed that the formation master they had brought couldn’t break the seals, and they were likely waiting for someone of a higher level. Without much effort, Aldrian began to decipher the formation by disturbing the flow of energy, and after a while, he successfully broke the seal.
As the door opened, a giant pond came into view. The water within shimmered, rich with not only heaven and earth energy but also thick demonic energy, elemental forces, and even the laws of nature themselves. Any demonic cultivator who trained here would see their cultivation speed increase drastically, and they would find it easier to comprehend elements and laws.
Beside the giant pond stood a giant altar, identical in shape to the one in the Yu family manor. It was an altar of the Heavenly Demon. This sanctuary was in fact a temple of the Heavenly Demon.
Aldrian gazed at the scene with a serene expression. Not a trace of greed crossed his face. If he were an ordinary cultivator, he might have been tempted to train here day and night to speed up his cultivation. Even as a non-demonic cultivator, he could still benefit from the richness of the heaven and earth energy in this place. But due to his unique nature, his cultivation couldn’t be hastened in the usual ways.
He had tried everything before. He had consumed spiritual herbs, from the lowest to the highest grade. He had taken various pills meant to aid cultivation. He had cultivated energy in sanctuaries like the Shrine of the Heavenly Tree. But nothing had worked—none of it had any effect on him.
The only way for Aldrian to advance his cultivation was by expanding his domain. The larger his domain, the stronger his cultivation grew, and as his cultivation grew, his domain would naturally expand. His true reason for being here was the same as others who sought to speed up their cultivation—except that his goal was to claim the entire city as his new domain.
Sensing the center of the energy concentration, he realized it lay in the middle of the pond. Without hesitation, he stripped down to his inner pants and waded into the pond, which was shallower than it appeared, reaching only to his waist. He stopped in the center, standing still with only his upper body visible, the water reflecting his rippling abs.
Over time, Aldrian’s understanding of the laws of karma had deepened, allowing him to better grasp the intricacies of his domain. His domain could cover an entire region if he reclaimed the highest karma-gathering point in that place. Such points were where the faith of the people concentrated—essentially the center of their belief.
This was an evolution of the hypothesis he had formed back in the Forest of Despair. At that time, he speculated that if he built his domain around a place like the Heavenly Tree, then the tree’s area of blessing would naturally fall under his domain. That theory had proven true, as the blessed region indeed became part of his domain. After spending time cultivating inside the Shrine of the Heavenly Tree, he began to notice the intricacies and details of how his domain was formed, and it all seemed tied to karma.
In this city, the people’s faith gathered at this very location, rather than with the city lord. It was clear that this place was sacred to the inhabitants. Every city in the demonic territory had a temple dedicated to the Heavenly Demon, where demonic cultivators worshipped.
Aldrian closed his eyes, calming his mind and attuning himself to nature and the universe. He repeated the lines he had already memorized by heart, allowing himself to fully immerse in their meaning. He stood in stillness, focused, when suddenly his surroundings began to shift.
Aldrian opened his eyes, and the world around him had changed. He now found himself in the midst of destruction—buildings ablaze, the sky a dark crimson, and corpses strewn across the ground.
A sense of déjà vu washed over him, as some of his previous visions had shown similar scenes. Though momentarily stunned, Aldrian quickly recognized what was happening.
"It’s just like when I picked up that strange leaf in Balin... another vision."
As he stood there, taking in the devastation, he noticed a lone figure amidst the carnage—a man, battered and wounded, as though he had just survived a great battle. Despite the injuries, the man appeared unbothered, gazing solemnly at the sky. His aura remained unshaken, and Aldrian felt a familiar sensation as he watched him. For reasons he couldn’t explain, his heart ached at the sight of this man.
He waited, anticipating what might happen next. Then suddenly, the young man turned, looked directly at him and smiled, revealing his handsome face and striking red eyes.
"Finally," the man said.
And just like that, Aldrian found himself back in the Temple of the Heavenly Demon.
