Redemption of a Born Demon

In an instant, Lotus felt his consciousness completely enveloped by a fierce flame. He wanted to withdraw from Yi Beidou’s mind immediately, but found it was utterly impossible.

In his eyes, the minds of ordinary people—even Saints or Ancient Ones—were riddled with holes. He could connect and invade them at will through the Human Dao River, coming and going as he pleased.

But Yi Beidou’s mind was now so seamless and whole it was like a solid iron plate, leaving Lotus unable to find a single vulnerability to exploit.

’This is bad!!’

Lotus realized this was the result of Yi Beidou resolving the greatest obsession in his heart and passing through the most critical Demon Tribulation of his life, his mind achieving an even greater state of perfection.

He had intended to use his opponent’s Heart Demon to subdue him without effort, but he never imagined he would instead become a stepping stone for Yi Beidou’s advancement.

Countless Demonic Flame Threads pierced into Lotus’s spiritual form, following some unknown connection back to its source like a keen hunter tracking its prey.

Yi Beidou was not a Spirit Cultivator, yet he was attempting to forcibly use his own power to open a passage to the Human Dao River!

Unfortunately, Lotus had been outmaneuvered. He was powerless to stop him and could only remain at Yi Beidou’s mercy.

「Human Dao River.」

Three figures floated in the endless Void.

The imposing man stood with his hands clasped behind his back. The Lady of the Three Yins continuously shook her Soul-Attracting Bell, while Lotus’s true consciousness sat cross-legged upon a Golden Lotus, his eyes shut tight and his hands forming a mysterious seal.

"It should be about time. It seems he’s about to succeed. This Lotus... he certainly has some tricks up his sleeve."

The King of the Wheel of Reincarnation remarked coolly, communicating with the Lady of the Three Yins telepathically as his gaze fell upon Lotus, who was seated on the Lotus Platform.

"He is surely hiding a great deal. What do you say, Brother Zhuanlun? Are you willing to cooperate? We must prevent him from deceiving us later. I’ve already discussed this with Fellow Daoist Hua Qing, and he has agreed. What are your thoughts, Brother?"

the Lady of the Three Yins inquired.

The King of the Wheel of Reincarnation’s expression flickered upon hearing her words. Just as he was about to reply, the expressions of both individuals changed drastically.

Something was wrong with Lotus, who was seated on the Golden Lotus Platform. From his seven facial orifices, threads of cyan and red began to emerge. These threads converged on the surface of his body, taking the form of a raging flame.

"Those are the methods of that young man from the present age! Did Lotus fail? Is that person trying to invade the Human Dao River? He isn’t a Spirit Cultivator, how could he possibly do something like this?!"

The Lady of the Three Yins’s expression shifted slightly as she recognized the origin of the flame.

"It doesn’t matter how he managed it. This could be our chance. The moment he appears, we’ll seal his consciousness. He’s barging into the Human Dao River recklessly; there’s no way he knows this place better than we do."

The King of the Wheel of Reincarnation’s expression grew serious. With a flip of his palm, a golden wheel appeared. He gave it a slight push forward, and the wheel multiplied into thousands, tightly encircling Lotus at the center.

The Lady of the Three Yins also flicked a finger. The Soul-Attracting Bell in her hand began to vibrate violently, yet it remained completely silent, seemingly gathering its power.

Suddenly, Lotus’s entire figure contorted. The Demon Flame burned a hole through his chest. A pair of large hands reached out from within the hole and violently tore it open.

The Void ripped open, and a figure strode out, shrouded in searing Demon Flame. His gaze was like a torch, as if it could melt a person’s very mind.

The moment Yi Beidou appeared, he scanned his surroundings. His gaze did not linger on the Lady of the Three Yins and the others. Instead, he observed his environment and was instantly captivated by the dazzling, endlessly flowing river.

"So this is it. The place where all living beings converge, the river of human civilization, the greatest nexus of causality for humanity’s existence between heaven and earth."

Yi Beidou spoke softly. The moment he perceived the river, he understood many things.

"Attack!!"

Just then, Lotus’s voice resounded in the minds of the King of the Wheel of Reincarnation and the Lady of the Three Yins.

The chest Yi Beidou had torn open was healing rapidly, and his distorted figure was reforming, but the Golden Lotus beneath him had grown dimmer.

Clearly, Yi Beidou using him as a conduit to forcibly break into the Human Dao River had inflicted considerable damage upon his true consciousness.

’But this is no time to worry about that,’ Lotus thought. ’This man has just entered the Human Dao River; he isn’t familiar with this place. Plus, he isn’t a Spirit Cultivator. We might still have a chance.’

Lotus didn’t need to say more. The King of the Wheel of Reincarnation and the Lady of the Three Yins had already struck the moment Yi Beidou appeared.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The thousands of golden wheels contracted abruptly, trapping Yi Beidou’s Spirit Body Dharma Body within them before beginning to spin violently.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The nearby Human Dao River began to churn as a strange energy was drawn out by the wheels and directed at Yi Beidou’s Spirit Body.

Rules, laws, chants, worship, roaring adulation, abject prostration...

An immense and yet fragmented torrent of intent seemed to rise with the churning of the Human Dao River, pouring into the countless golden wheels.

These minute fragments of intent ceaselessly eroded and ground against Yi Beidou’s Spirit Body, seeking to pulverize him into countless motes of dust that would dissolve into the river of consciousness.

This was the might of the turning wheels, a power the King of the Wheel of Reincarnation had condensed from the Power of the Human Path.

The Grinding Wheel of the World.

He had once ruled the Pusaka Country in an ancient era and was revered in myth and legend as the "Saint King." This was the power he had forged from his own age.

Using an entire era as a millstone to grind all souls to dust.

BRRRING!!

Elsewhere, a piercing ring erupted. The Lady of the Three Yins had been shaking her Soul-Attracting Bell nonstop, not to release its power, but to accumulate her Divine Power for this very moment.

Amidst the ringing, Yi Beidou heard countless maddening whispers and terrifying waves of emotion that sought to submerge his mind and annihilate his consciousness.