In the Lighthouse Nation, at the former New York branch of the Sea Hawk Association, the floors were currently occupied by demonized dark creatures. In a central chamber, the Steady clone, transformed into the Heavenly Demon Weasel, sat cross-legged in a quiet room, wisps of demonic energy swirling around him as he absorbed them, strengthening his aura.
With an unlimited supply of demonic energy from the Demon Queen, his strength advanced rapidly. He had currently reached the twenty-fifth demonic tier. Coupled with the enhancement of his Heavenly Demon clone, most demons below the thirtieth demonic tier were no match for him.
The advancement methods of demons and human transcendents were diametrically opposed. Divine tier cultivators climbed upwards, their destination being the Divine Domain. Upon entering, they could achieve godhood in a single step, transforming their bodies with laws, becoming more adept at their application, and capable of rebirth as long as a trace of their primordial spirit remained intact.
After the Heavenly Demon Weasel entered A-rank, he needed to ascend not the divine tier, but the demonic tier.
The demonic tier was a descent. Each tier was fraught with various inner demons that assailed and obstructed him. Success led to strength, failure to death. Reaching the end allowed one to enter the Demon Abyss, implanting the Demon Abyss within oneself to achieve the position of Demon Lord, surpassing all laws, and attaining true immortality. However, this also meant facing various heavenly tribulations, which were even more perilous than those encountered by transcendents.
Cultivation was inherently an act of defying heaven. Among them, immortal cultivators primarily utilized the energy of heaven and earth, emphasizing gradual progress and the unity of heaven and man. Demons, on the other hand, grew stronger by plundering. Even in death, their dissipating energy would continue to disrupt the balance of heaven and earth, hence they were unwelcome by the world, and the heavenly tribulations they faced were significantly more dangerous.
At this moment, the Heavenly Demon Weasel immersed his mind entirely in the demonic tier. He saw layers of black mist obstructing the path to the Demon Abyss. Within the black mist, faint roars of various demonic creatures could be heard, containing great terror.
At that time, the Heavenly Demon Weasel’s demonic infant stood on the twenty-fifth demonic tier, looking at the pitch-black, dense fog ahead and taking a step forward.
"Roar~"
As he stepped forward, the dense fog suddenly became violent, as if trying to devour everything. The demonic roars from within grew more ferocious. In the next moment, a demon with a green face and fangs roared and pounced, its demonic eyes blood-red, reaching him in an instant.
"Hmph!"
The Heavenly Demon Weasel let out a cold snort. His right hand, beneath the wide sleeve of his fire-cloud robe, transformed into a palm blade, covered in dense demonic flames, and slashed down towards the green-faced, red-eyed demon.
As the attack was unleashed, pure demonic energy surged from around the demonic tier and was absorbed into his demonic infant, greatly boosting the power of his attack. In an instant, he cleaved the green-faced demon into a mass of demonic energy.
After slaying the green-faced demon, the momentum of his attack did not cease. It plunged into the demonic mist, slaying several more demons, which transformed into pure demonic energy and were absorbed into his demonic infant, making it more solidified.
This was the monstrous nature of the Heavenly Demon. Besides their bloodline suppressing other demons, they were also naturally attuned to demonic energy, greatly increasing the conversion rate of demonic energy. In terms of advancement, they had virtually no limitations.
Having successfully ascended to the twenty-sixth demonic tier, the Heavenly Demon Weasel stepped onto the twenty-seventh. Just then, a sudden change occurred.
The demonic mist, originally so dark it was impenetrable like ink, surged again. A portion of it turned colorful, transforming into a demoness with seven-colored long hair and a black dress. She extended her jade arms and approached him with a charming smile, as if to embrace him.
This was the Desire True Demon. Demons were not devoid of emotions and desires; rather, influenced by demonic energy, their actions became more extreme. The seven-colored hair of this Desire True Demon represented the seven emotions and desires, capable of infinitely amplifying the desires within his heart.
The Heavenly Demon Weasel's expression gradually became ferocious.
At this moment, he even harbored the thought of "I can replace him" towards his main body, and even desired to ravage all the members of the third group and Lin Wanjun.
It was known that upon separating his consciousness, the system had set a rule for him: betrayal meant death. Just as he was about to choose betrayal…
In the next moment, a black and white vortex appeared in the sky above the gloomy and dark demonic tier. Then, a humanoid creature stepped out of the vortex and instantly arrived before him, delivering a punch.
This humanoid creature wore a dark robe and had golden horns covered in intricate inscriptions on its head. Its left palm bore a Yin fish pattern, and its right palm bore a Yang fish pattern. Its eyes were closed, and its horns were majestic.
"Wake up!" The horned humanoid creature roared after delivering the punch, its voice like a great bell, causing him to instantly awaken.
"I almost fell for it!"
The Heavenly Demon Weasel's face showed lingering fear. This Desire True Demon was a top-tier True Demon existing within the demonic tier, typically appearing only after the seventieth demonic tier. By all rights, with his Heavenly Demon body and the implicit favor of the Demon Abyss, even if he triggered it prematurely, he should not have fallen prey so easily. However, he possessed humanity, and coupled with witnessing too many scenes of humans being slaughtered and devoured by demons during this period, his demonic heart developed a loophole, which was exploited.
"Get lost!"
After regaining his consciousness, the Heavenly Demon Weasel roared and kicked the lower half of the Desire True Demon, causing it to explode. Simultaneously, monstrous demonic flames erupted from his demonic infant, transforming into eight demonic claws that completely tore the Desire True Demon apart.
The stronger the desire, the stronger the Desire True Demon. However, the Steady clone was incredibly steady, with very few desires, thus he could easily kill it.
After doing all this, he had the leisure to look at the humanoid creature and asked with a frown, "Who are you?"
"My name is Hei Si, I govern the operation of Yin and Yang reincarnation!" the humanoid creature said with closed eyes. After a slight tilt of its head to sense something, it quickly burrowed into the Yin and Yang vortex above and disappeared.
Heavenly Demon Weasel: "?"
Before he could ponder further, he discovered that the moment the humanoid creature disappeared, a massive dark hand emerged from the Demon Abyss at the end of the demonic tier, striking with boundless might.
Instantly, the demonic mist boiled, and the space of the demonic tier rumbled and trembled.
"Who dares trespass into the realm of advancement!?"
A booming demonic voice echoed throughout the entire demonic tier space. This voice was devoid of any emotion, like some pre-programmed routine.
Within the demonic hand, there was a ferocious, gaping mouth. The five fingers of the demonic hand were adorned with five vertical pupils on their pads, emitting an evil and eerie power, rotating in different directions, appearing bizarre and terrifying.
After failing to detect anything, the five vertical pupils turned their gaze towards the Heavenly Demon Weasel.
Immediately, the Heavenly Demon Weasel's hair stood on end, and he froze on the spot.
"Nourishment..."
The gaping mouth in the palm of the demonic hand murmured. It seemed not to notice the Heavenly Demon Weasel's anomaly and soon retreated back into the Demon Abyss, disappearing completely.
"Phew..."
"I need to find an opportunity to inform the main body about everything that happened today. Who was that humanoid creature? How could it enter the demonic tier world!"
The Heavenly Demon Weasel let out a long breath, murmuring, and then refocused his gaze forward.
In the next moment, demonic flames reignited on his body, and he took another step forward.
Twenty-seventh tier.
Twenty-eighth tier.
Twenty-ninth tier...
Perhaps due to the appearance of the demonic hand, many of the demons in the demonic mist, except for a few foolishly weak ones, did not appear to obstruct him, allowing him to ascend to the twenty-ninth tier smoothly.
His steps halted on the twenty-ninth tier; he did not take another step.
Because upon reaching the thirtieth demonic tier, the Demon Queen might immediately engage with him. Therefore, he chose to play it safe and report the situation to his main body before making a decision.
Exiting his inner demonic vision, the Heavenly Demon Weasel stood up, opened the door of the quiet room, and stepped out.
Boiling sounds drifted up from the New York street below.
"Protest, we want human rights!"
"Brutal Black Demons, get out of the Lighthouse Nation!"
"Strongly demand the restoration of the internet, the destruction of satellites is not an excuse!"
"Strongly protest cooperation with Black Demons!"
...
On New York Street, vehicles had stopped running. A procession of protesting people carrying banners moved through the street. Seen from the tall buildings, they resembled countless insects.
The Heavenly Demon Weasel's expression was calm, a flicker of sympathy and mockery in his eyes.
At this time, the high-level officials of the Lighthouse Nation were all occupied by Black Demons, and the internet was cut off to prevent communication with the outside world. These people of the Lighthouse Nation believed they were still free, but in reality, they were already being raised like livestock. The reason for not making a full announcement was merely to prevent the people of the Lighthouse Nation from resorting to desperate measures, and also to discourage the lower-tier transcendents from pursuing cultivation.
After all, for demons, transcendents were excellent food. Consuming them not only increased intelligence but also promoted physical evolution.
"Fortunately, Dragon Country is not the Lighthouse Nation!"
The Heavenly Demon Weasel sighed inwardly. He soon noticed peacekeeping police appearing. While maintaining order, they were secretly devouring people, causing the number of protesters to dwindle as order was maintained.
Shaking his head, the Heavenly Demon Weasel flew towards the Sea Hawk Headquarters, preparing to collect his monthly demonic energy and other resources. Since it was free, he might as well take advantage of it.
However, halfway there, a terrifying aura descended. The Heavenly Demon Weasel looked up and saw a man with blonde hair and blue eyes, with lizard-like markings on his neck.
This man's public identity was Max, the president of the Sea Hawk Association's Moscow branch, a Level 53 Divine Tier cultivator. His disguised identity was a Level 50 Demonic Tier Black Demon.
"Mr. Weasel, are you heading to headquarters?" Max asked with a smile, leaning in to put an arm around the Heavenly Demon Weasel's shoulder, intending to tear off a piece of flesh to replenish himself.
The flesh of a Heavenly Demon was a great tonic for other demons. He looked at the Heavenly Demon Weasel's body, his mouth watering.
"Get lost!" The Heavenly Demon Weasel gave him a cold glance and flicked a spray of demonic thorns, which even distorted the void.
"Heh heh, this attack is still weak!"
Max chuckled. His strength at the fiftieth demonic tier almost crushed the Heavenly Demon Weasel. In an instant, he solidified the demonic thorns, then rolled them into a ball and put them into his mouth, a look of ecstasy on his face: "Demonic thorns with Heavenly Demon aura, I like them!"
He then looked at the Heavenly Demon Weasel with lingering desire: "Mr. Weasel, how about giving me two pounds of flesh? I can exchange three B-rank transcendents with you. You can recover your physical body anytime, so losing two pounds of flesh shouldn't matter!"
"You damn thing, you're endless!"
Even the incredibly steady Heavenly Demon Weasel was enraged at this moment. Without a word, he took out a squeaky toy chicken and was about to crush it. The next moment, his movements suddenly froze.
"Just kidding, just kidding!" Max said with a fawning smile. After reaching the fiftieth tier, he had become increasingly human-like, appearing no different from a normal human.
Carefully observing the Heavenly Demon Weasel's expression and finding that he had no intention of a mutually destructive fight, Max finally breathed a sigh of relief and released the pressure he had been exerting on the Heavenly Demon Weasel.
After all, this queen's favorite plaything was someone who dared to send the queen a squeaky toy chicken just because she liked to hear human screams. What was even more outrageous was that the queen actually liked it very much and gave him the squeaky toy chicken as a distress signal, saying that if he encountered danger, he should just squeeze it, and she would arrive immediately.
He dared not provoke the queen's displeasure at this time.
The Heavenly Demon Weasel snorted and pressed the squeaky toy chicken against his chest. Instantly, the flesh of his chest writhed, integrating the squeaky toy chicken into his body.
He had kept the squeaky toy chicken within his body all along, and in reality, he could squeeze it without taking it out. However, if he were to summon the queen, he would have to pay a certain price unless he was truly in danger. Therefore, he was merely trying to scare Max.
As expected, Max was greatly intimidated. After apologizing, he quickly tore through the void and left.
"After becoming a Heavenly Demon, I've become less steady!"
The Heavenly Demon Weasel silently reminded himself to remain steady. Taking a deep breath, he continued flying towards his destination.
——————
Sincere thanks to L and Leng Tong for the God-level authentication. Thank you,大佬, for your generosity even though I've been so incompetent!
Also, thanks to Haoxiang Wo Shi for the Inspiration Capsule + two Love Letters, and to Zha Tian Bang - Wu Di Bang Zhu for the Inspiration Capsule + two Likes, and to Ah Yao, Ai Chi Lu Shui Ji Jiao, and Chai A Fu Si for the Urge to Update Talismans, and to User 11105381, Mu Chen Zi, Xing Qu Yu, and User 25241234 for the Bobo Milk Tea, and to Xia Dong Li, who likes to eat pillow zongzi, for two Bobo Milk Teas and a Love Letter.
And thanks to all the other friends for their various small gifts and likes and support. Thank you all!