C1 The Great Demon Came into Being

On a deep autumn night, sporadic raindrops fell gently from the sky.

In a hidden nook of the Clear Essence Sect's service area, the air was thick with the stench of blood, enough to make one's stomach churn.

A young man, about fifteen or sixteen, was burning with rage, his fists clenched tightly. His bloodshot eyes fixed on the four still-twitching bodies on the ground, his teeth grinding together in fury.

At a glance, he resembled a wild demonic beast, his ferocity on full display.

"Qin Yu, my suspicions were correct. You truly are a demon!"

At that moment, the Eldest Senior Brother of the Clear Essence Sect stood aloft with his hands behind his back, his gaze alight with barely concealed excitement.

"No, I... I'm not a demon. You've driven me to this!" Tears streamed down Qin Yu's cheeks as he choked out, "I could endure your bullying and humiliation, but why... Why did you extract my Blood Essence? Why did you treat me as if I were a spiritual beast to be tamed?"

In response to Qin Yu's accusations, the Eldest Senior Brother burst into crazed laughter, which abruptly ceased as a cruel smirk crossed his lips. "Why? Because you are a demon! You lack meridians and symbols; you're trash that can't practice the human cultivation methods. A demon's destiny is to prostrate before the human race and submit!"

With those words, the Eldest Senior Brother gestured in the air with his left hand and grasped a Golden Cudgel crackling with purple lightning.

He then declared smugly, "Now, you have two choices."

"Either kneel and accept this, becoming my spiritual beast, and when I challenge and become a Core Disciple, you'll share in my prosperity."

"Or, I'll take you to the Celestial Punishment Hall. Given your recent transformation and slaughter of our sect's Miscellaneous Affairs Disciples, the punishment will be enough to shatter your Demonic Soul, condemning you to an eternity without reincarnation!"

Qin Yu gazed at the Purple Lightning Golden Cudgel, overwhelmed with humiliation. He couldn't fathom why he had been labeled a demon from such a young age.

He couldn't understand why, despite having hands and feet, a nose and eyes like everyone else, he was so markedly different.

In the cultivation system of the Profound Wind Continent, the pulse is fundamental. Only with a pulse can one store Qi, and with form, one can gather Qi.

Thus, Qin Yu was deemed a cripple, unable to cultivate. Yet, that wasn't the only anomaly; he was born with divine strength! Even more frightening was the fact that his strength increased with his age, all signs pointing to him being a demon.

He had always considered this a cruel joke or a test from the heavens. So he never stopped cultivating, hoping to one day become a Core Disciple of the Clear Essence Sect and master the immortal techniques that many long for.

But now...

After Qin Yu's awakening as a demon in a state of extreme danger and fury, his dreams lay in ruins.

Despite his denial, he was, without a doubt, a member of the demon race, which had harbored animosity towards humans for tens of thousands of years.

"Qin Yu, I must remind you that time is running out. I'm only giving you three seconds!" Eldest Senior Brother, growing impatient with Qin Yu's lack of response, extended his hand and began to count down.

"Three."

"Two."

"One!"

"Time's up. My patience has its limits. It seems you prefer punishment over compliance," Eldest Senior Brother said, his voice growing colder. He unleashed the formidable pressure of the Meridian Tempering Stage's Level Three peak and advanced toward the bewildered Qin Yu.

Suddenly, Qin Yu felt an overwhelming pressure, as if a thousand pounds had been thrust upon his shoulders, causing his knees to buckle, nearly forcing him to the ground.

Eldest Senior Brother approached, standing over the defenseless Qin Yu, his palm hovering over Qin Yu's crown, fingers crackling with purple electricity.

"Kneel, you demon! No matter how extraordinary your demonic body may be, you're nothing but an ant before me!"

As the electric arcs coalesced into a sphere in his hand, Eldest Senior Brother shouted and thrust his palm down.

Eldest Senior Brother's assessment was accurate. Despite Qin Yu's recent awakening and transformation into a demon, which enabled him to instantly annihilate four Meridian Tempering Stage Level One Miscellaneous Affairs Disciples in a fury, he was nowhere near the peak prowess of Level Three of the Meridian Tempering Stage.

Thus, Qin Yu had no escape. He even closed his eyes in utter despair.

In that instant, it felt as though a lifetime had passed. Confronted with death, he was overwhelmed by a profound fear and a boundless hatred that consumed his heart.

He despised the cruel fate that would take him from this world before he ever met his birth parents.

He loathed his powerlessness to confess his feelings to the most cherished and adorable junior sister among the Core Disciples before his life was cut short.

His hatred was so intense that it set his very insides ablaze. The inferno of his wrath spread through every nook of his body at an imperceptible speed, boiling even the cells within his veins.

At that critical juncture, his dantian, which had never shown any sign of activity, suddenly swelled. A bizarre energy burst forth like a geyser, surging upward and converging at the crown of his head.

The force then swirled into a vortex, as if intent on boring a hole right through Qin Yu's forehead.

At that moment, Qin Yu's eyes snapped open...

"Boom!"

The sound of an explosion echoed through the area, the result of Eldest Senior Brother's all-out palm strike.

A smug smile crossed Eldest Senior Brother's face. But as he was about to place the Purple Lightning Golden Rings on Qin Yu's head, he became utterly paralyzed, his mouth agape.

"How... How can this be!"

Eldest Senior Brother couldn't fathom how his full-force palm strike hadn't inflicted the slightest injury on Qin Yu.

Qin Yu glared back with eyes as fierce as those of a Vicious Beast, his gaze piercing Eldest Senior Brother, "You've brought this upon yourself!"

Then, a blood-red glow emerged at Qin Yu's brow, and an eye without a pupil struggled to emerge from his forehead.

In a flash, thunder crashed down, striking Qin Yu's third eye relentlessly.

"Demonic... Demonic Eye!"

In that moment, fear took root deep within Eldest Senior Brother. He shook uncontrollably as he watched the blood-red eye voraciously absorb the lightning from the heavens. Unbeknownst to him, he had wet himself.

At that moment, Qin Yu had Eldest Senior Brother by the throat, hoisting him into the air with a single arm. He bellowed furiously, "You think you can tame me as your Spiritual Beast? You clearly lack the power for that!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a thunderbolt, more massive than an arm, burst forth from Qin Yu's third eye, thundering through Eldest Senior Brother's chest.

A thunderous boom erupted, and Qin Yu's vision was engulfed in blinding lightning!