Redemption of a Born Demon

"Very well. Since you’ve made up your mind, we’ll do it that way."

Long Yichen fell silent for a moment before shaking his head. He said nothing more, because he knew it was useless.

One only needed to look at Yi Beidou’s life and his actions to realize this.

He had defected from his country, traveled to Japan alone, and turned the nation upside down, causing the deaths of both the Emperor of Japan and its top leader. Despite knowing the terror of the Ancient One, he had still charged into his Secret Realm, Penglai Immortal Mountain, to kill and plunder techniques and treasures. He had ambushed the Sleepers mid-journey, comprehending "Immortal Power" in the heat of battle...

None of these earth-shattering feats were things a man who listened to reason would do.

HUMMM!!

Long Yichen deactivated his Celestial Monarch state. The powerful radiance enveloping him completely dissipated, and his aura rapidly diminished.

Yi Beidou’s eyes narrowed. He sensed the "aperture" within the other man’s body rapidly "closing." Some power he couldn’t comprehend was leaving Long Yichen’s body as the aperture sealed, causing his partially transformed physique to revert to its original state.

From a Demi-Immortal physique back to a mortal form.

This was a phenomenon Yi Beidou could not yet comprehend.

Long Yichen’s face was deathly pale, like a corpse that had been dead for days. He flipped his palm, pulled a few pills from the satchel at his waist, and swallowed them. A rumble echoed from his stomach, and a hint of color finally returned to his face.

Yi Beidou, too, deactivated his Celestial Demon Dissolution. This time, however, the Shiquan backlash was completely under his control. It merely caused blood to seep from his pores and his internal organs to churn violently.

’A few grievous injuries, hardly worth mentioning.’

"So, when are you planning to leave?"

Long Yichen asked, coughing lightly.

"Now that I’ve decided, the sooner the better."

Yi Beidou looked over at Meng Qianyuan. "Qian Yuan, notify Minister Zhao. Ask him to please help with the arrangements."

"Understood."

Meng Qianyuan nodded, then immediately turned and walked out of the gymnasium.

「Donghua.」

A video began to circulate quietly online.

The video footage was somewhat blurry. It was filmed from high in the sky and far from the target, with the camera often shaking unsteadily.

Still, some things could be discerned from the "anomalies" at the scene.

In a barren wilderness, two figures clashed at speeds nearly invisible to the naked eye, their impacts unleashing terrifying shockwaves.

It was clearly a duel between supreme experts of the Martial Arts Dao.

"Blood Fire Demon Flame!! It’s Mr. Yi’s Blood Fire Demon Flame, no doubt!! Who is his opponent?!"

"The location is a wasteland with no visible buildings, so it’s impossible to pinpoint. But I heard Mr. Yi was in the Mediterranean Region recently. This must be the Eastern Mediterranean, right?"

"..."

The moment the video was posted, it began to spread like wildfire online.

By now, all of society had reached a consensus: a new era was dawning.

From the Steam Age to the Electric Age, and from the Electric Age to the Information Age, some had predicted the next era would belong to virtual reality or AI technology. But no one could have imagined it would actually belong to the evolution of life itself.

On the Donghua internet, powerful Martial Artists were now more popular than A-list celebrities. Any topic related to them received widespread attention and spread rapidly, becoming a guaranteed way to generate traffic and even causing major fluctuations in the stock market.

And as for Yi Beidou, his fame was second to none.

Moreover, this was all tied to the hugely influential international events in the Mediterranean Region.

As the video circulated, it wasn’t long before an internet guru used frame-by-frame analysis to isolate the form of Yi Beidou’s opponent, which was nearly invisible to the naked eye, and selected the clearest images.

After a series of comparisons, the discovery instantly set the entire Donghua internet ablaze.

The public discovered that the figure of Yi Beidou’s opponent was remarkably similar to the "Land Immortal" who had recently rampaged across Donghua!

"It’s that legendary Ancient Immortal!! That’s right, it must be him!!"

"That guy rampaged through Donghua, swaggering about wherever he pleased! Even the government couldn’t do anything about him and could only evacuate civilians from his path in advance. It was completely unprecedented! I heard an entire combined arms brigade was no match for him. He’s a figure who stands above all organizations and nations. I can’t believe Mr. Yi actually fought him!"

"He didn’t just fight him, he won! Look, the guy had to flee in the end! HAHA, that’s so satisfying! Mr. Yi probably heard about him rampaging through Donghua and acting all high and mighty, so he went out of his way to teach him a lesson. This guy was hyped up as some invincible ancient True Immortal, but in the end, he still lost to one of us modern folks!"

"..."

The internet erupted in celebration. Not long ago, at the Eastern Kingdom Border, the entire country had been forced to make way for him. The sense of frustration and panic from that incident had weighed heavily on every citizen of Donghua.

Even many pessimists believed that human society would return to a primitive era of rule by Divine Spirits.

But the appearance of this video proved that these so-called Ancient Immortals were no match for modern-day Martial Artists, which was a great comfort to the public.

Amidst the celebration, however, some were deeply alarmed. The world rejoiced that Yi Beidou had defeated an Ancient Immortal, but on closer inspection, didn’t this also mean that Yi Beidou’s power now surpassed that of a modern army?

What would the world become in the future?

Thanks to the video deliberately released by the government, the restless populace of Donghua was pacified. Other nations also used the footage to stabilize their own people. Meanwhile, the major Secret Organizations in the Mediterranean Region were forced to take this development seriously, beginning discussions to plan their strategies for the struggles to come.