Redemption of a Born Demon

「Two hours later.」

Yi Beidou sat cross-legged in the center of the spacious hall, a dense mist enveloping him. A low rumble, like roaring machinery, emanated from his abdomen.

He had fully digested the dozen or so Demon Peacock Pills from the black safe in front of him. Aided by his Penglai Power, his injuries were no longer a major concern, and his stamina and energy had returned to their peak.

He opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

Next, he would attempt to form the Black Flame again and gain a deeper understanding of its properties.

His previous, hasty success with the fusion had been thanks to the Mystical Palace’s Chaos Seal and its ability to merge all things. This time, he had to rely solely on himself.

Although he had seared the fundamental nature and inspiration for the Black Flame into his soul, a vast gulf remained between theory and practice.

Knowing is easy; doing is hard.

FWOOM!!

A sapphire Demon Flame ignited, enveloping his body. Then, Tribulation Qi surged forth, manifesting the malevolent and ominous Tribulation Star. Finally, the Jade Energy—extracted from the threshold between life and death—appeared.

Yi Beidou held out a finger, and the three powers transformed into a tricolored radiance, twining around its tip.

Each of these three powers was tyrannical in its own right.

The Demon Flame, formed from his will as a Free Celestial Demon, did not conform to the world’s magnetic field. Instead, it burned and devoured that field for his own use, granting him a Divine Power over magnetic True Qi that few had ever possessed.

He had learned to sense and master the Tribulation Qi through his Celestial Demon Body, combining it with his Great Path of judging the world and destroying illusions to preserve reality.

When tribulation descends, it brings an endless, great terror that even the Sleepers cannot escape. And among all calamities, the so-called heavenly and earthly tribulations, though seemingly ferocious, are of little consequence.

Human strength can move mountains and fill the seas, and human wrath can overturn heaven and earth. Even a world-ending apocalypse can be reversed by human will, and civilization rebuilt.

The most dangerous of all is the Human Tribulation. In the face of calamity, if one loses hope and courage, if one’s spirit collapses into despair, then even the power to move mountains and fill seas is for naught.

Therefore, the true function of Tribulation Qi was actually most potent in the spiritual and mental realm.

As for the Jade Power, developed by the Penglai Earth Immortals, it manifested a creature’s Life Energy at the brink of death, releasing it to achieve the state of Transforming Illusion into Reality. It strengthened the physique and reversed injuries—a true miracle of "Essence."

The Jade Power was "Essence," the Demon Flame was "Qi," and the Tribulation Qi was "Spirit."

In effect, Yi Beidou had already gathered the "Three Flowers." However, fusing them into one was a monumental task.

The three powers intertwined, yet they simultaneously repelled one another. Under normal circumstances, fusing them would be impossible. However, thanks to the earlier help from the Chaos Seal, Yi Beidou had already overcome the greatest hurdle.

Unfettered!

A sharp glint flashed in Yi Beidou’s eyes, and the sapphire Demon Flame flared violently, swallowing the other two powers.

The Demon Flame was the core of Yi Beidou’s Great Path, the embodiment of his quest for true, unrestrained freedom.

To be unrestrained, to bow to neither heaven nor earth, and to devour everything for his own use.

In the fusion of the three powers, the Demon Flame had to be the core, its devouring nature unleashed to the fullest.

Scorched by the Demon Flame, the other two powers seemed to melt, merging into it sliver by sliver. The Demon Flame’s color began to deepen in turn.

However, amidst this fusion, the other two powers seemed to sense a mortal threat. Despite Yi Beidou’s efforts to suppress them, a backlash finally erupted.

BANG!!

The two powers exploded in a final, defiant act. The darkening Demon Flame was blasted apart, scattering like fireworks, and Yi Beidou’s body was unavoidably caught in the aftermath.

SIZZLE!!

This darker flame seemed to have already taken on some properties of the Black Flame, making no distinction between friend or foe. The smell of scorched flesh rose from Yi Beidou as extensive burns appeared on his skin.

But to Yi Beidou, such injuries were trivial.

In just ten breaths, his injuries had healed. His expression was calm, completely undiscouraged by the failure.

’Balance?’

Through this failure, Yi Beidou seemed to have grasped the key element.

「Three days later.」

FWOOM!!

The sapphire Demon Flame flared to life on Yi Beidou’s fingertip, enveloping the other two radiant powers and beginning to refine them into itself.

The two powers resisted desperately, once again showing their defiant nature. This time, however, Yi Beidou seemed to have found the balancing point. A sharp glint erupted in his eyes, his focus absolute.

At last, the Demon Flame’s color grew ever deeper as the Tribulation Qi and Jade Power were thoroughly broken down and integrated within it.

On Yi Beidou’s fingertip, a single mote of Black Flame flickered like a candle flame. It possessed no grand, astonishing presence, yet it held an immense and terrifying energy. Even an Ancient One would feel an instinctual, hair-raising dread before it.

It was as if this was the very source of all-destroying tribulation.

’I succeeded.’

Yi Beidou let out a breath.

Even at his current Spiritual Realm and with his level of Willpower, forming just that single wisp of Black Flame left him feeling a profound sense of exhaustion.

The toll of using the Black Flame wasn’t a simple drain on his Magnetic Force or Physical Ability; it was a complete depletion of his Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

It felt as if the Black Flame were burning his very Essence, Qi, and Spirit as fuel.

At his current level, he could only form this single, tiny wisp. To create any more would be tantamount to suicide.

An out-of-control Black Flame would burn through his Essence, Qi, and Spirit. This was a type of depletion that could not be restored by simply replenishing his energy or even by using the Penglai Technique.