Chapter 580: Innate Demon Fetus? Innate Demon Body

Blood-red threads descended like a spiderweb. They pierced through its body, and although the Heavenly Demon's form was intangible and ethereal, it seemed genuinely bound, unable to move, and a needle-like pain surged through its entire being.

Its consciousness was being eroded by the Intent of Slaughter. This fundamental demise filled it with boundless terror.

"Arghh!"

It struggled, roared, and the power of desire thoroughly boiled over. Yet, all its efforts were like an ant striking a towering tree, utterly incapable of shaking the Intent of Slaughter. Theoretically, Intent was a standard feature for cultivators in the late stage of Nascent Soul Transformation.

The power of a mature Six Desires Heavenly Demon was certainly enough to corrupt Intent. The problem, however, lay in the Intent of Slaughter's inherent suppression of Heavenly Demons and Wang Yu's personal augmentation. This pushed one of the two initially equal parties into a Waterloo-like predicament. The very existence of the Soul Sword also restricted the effectiveness of the Heavenly Demon's intangible form.

More crucially, as its feeder, this Six Desires Heavenly Demon had consumed countless evil thoughts and talents from him. How could Wang Yu not have laid secret groundwork in advance? The very nutrients that sustained the Heavenly Demon's growth also became the reality by which it was increasingly entangled in the web!

Until its self-awareness completely vanished, turning into a mere Heavenly Demon shell driven only by instinct. To achieve all this, Wang Yu only took ten days to complete the preliminary refinement.

"The time has come."

Having decided to take the risk, he wouldn't change his mind. Immediately, he activated the Second Nascent Soul secret technique, merging a portion of his own essence into the Heavenly Demon's shell.

Alchemical flames surged, and lightning raged. The second phase of processing officially began. The shell, now driven only by instinct, struggled to resist the Soul Transformation spiritual power. The eighteen-foot-tall, green-faced, fanged body, resembling a malevolent ghost, slowly hugged its knees. It was visibly regressing to an infant form.

The aura and fluctuations emanating from it were also gradually approaching Wang Yu's characteristics, slowly becoming consistent.

The Second Nascent Soul secret technique essentially uses rare heavenly materials as a foundation and then splits a portion of the practitioner's own Nascent Soul as a seed, transforming it into their second Nascent Soul. However, Wang Yu's Nascent Soul had long since evolved into a Nascent Spirit, so theoretically, this secret technique would be ineffective for him, lacking the profound mystery required to refine a second Nascent Spirit.

But Wang Yu had his 'placement slot' with him. With his formidable comprehension, the secret technique didn't need to fully advance; as long as it initiated the process and allowed him to refine the Heavenly Demon's shell, it was enough for him.

This convergence of auras was primarily to resolve the judgment mechanism of the Demonic Embryo secret technique, transforming the Heavenly Demon from a simulated object into a consumable resource. Just as he had devoured Fu Xiao, this was an inherent trait of the Demonic Embryo. Since it couldn't be altered, he had to find a way to turn the target into a consumable entity.

The Demonic Heart Venerable had the same idea back then. The targets for the Demonic Embryo secret technique had always been limited: initially, only blood relatives, then later humans were viewed as resources. Now, it was about making Heavenly Demons his food as well. He believed that after his physique evolved, these troublesome prerequisites would disappear entirely. He would gain the true ability to seize Heavenly Demon aptitudes, and there was even a possibility of cultivating by devouring Heavenly Demons.

Long-term considerations aside, as the secret technique took effect, the Heavenly Demon's shell underwent increasingly significant changes.

Three years later.

Wang Yu abruptly opened his eyes, revealing an almost palpable malice and consuming desire.

"Now!"

Wang Yu inhaled, and the infant-like Heavenly Demon shell from the Soul Sword entered his abdomen, instantly appearing in his Dantian Qi Sea. The ability of his Innate Demonic Embryo Physique began to take effect. A continuous stream of primordial demonic energy, carrying the Heavenly Demon race's talents and bloodline ability information, was constantly absorbed by the Demonic Embryo Physique. Wang Yu's own body also began to transform.

Flesh, meridians, bone marrow—every cell in his body was changing. Profound and mysterious innate demonic patterns were deeply imprinted in his flesh particles, and his Myriad Transformations talent began to strengthen.

Everything was progressing positively.

However...

A crisis descended simultaneously. The extraction of its essence caused turmoil in the Heavenly Demon shell, whose consciousness had been extinguished, passively activating its survival instinct. The racial ability, Heavenly Demon Possession, which had reached its peak and was almost transcendent, began to take effect.

Theoretically, possession involves an external will expelling and plundering an existing one. Yet, even with the Heavenly Demon's consciousness extinguished, it could still activate its possession ability. So, what was the source of this possession?

The answer was instinct! Wang Yu had anticipated this situation, which was why he only felt fifty percent confident. Otherwise, the success rate would have been one hundred percent. This precaution stemmed from his understanding of ancient demons.

The new consciousness born from an ancient demon's body was a fusion of instinct within the flesh and residual consciousness, appearing to possess some memories of the original entity, but in reality, it was an entirely new life. It possessed a different personality and concepts. Although influenced by memories and similar to the original consciousness, even sharing the same thought patterns, it was fundamentally two distinct wills.

This was an unalterable essence. Furthermore, as the path of body refinement grew stronger, this physical enhancement seemed to eventually lead to the state of flesh-and-blood beings. This was similar in principle to rebirth from a drop of blood, yet also different. Wang Yu's foresight came from this information he possessed.

As for the ability of rebirth from a drop of blood, it was more akin to pre-storing all the original entity's information and memories within a single drop of blood, thereby allowing it to revert to its former appearance. It did not involve awakening instinct and reforming a new consciousness.

This also raised a new question: while the body could be reshaped and power restored, what about the Nascent Spirit? If the Nascent Spirit perished, it was almost equivalent to disbanding and entering the cycle of reincarnation. The cultivation world regarded the annihilation of the Nascent Spirit as true death.

Wang Yu's current rebirth from a drop of blood could not yet reshape the Nascent Spirit. Therefore, his resurrection technique had to ensure the survival of his Nascent Spirit, unless he could achieve the realm of spirit-body unity. Only by fully integrating his Nascent Spirit with his physical body, eliminating all distinctions, could that divine ability unleash its true power.

However, his current fifth-tier body refinement cultivation was far from enough. This kind of resurrection without any weaknesses was likely only achieved by ancient demons. That's why Immortals forcibly separated the ancient demons' Nascent Spirits, creating vulnerabilities. This led to the birth of those new consciousnesses.

Wang Yu suspected that the suppression in the Ice Prison Realm was not for eternal confinement but specifically to create new consciousnesses, forming a situation of one body, two souls. This perfectly echoed the saying: Only magic can defeat magic!

And how to completely destroy ancient demons, only they themselves would know. Once an ancient demon managed to destroy another's Nascent Spirit, it could naturally learn from that experience, achieving a permanent solution. This conjecture aligned with the Immortal Palace's interests.

However, Wang Yu wouldn't wait for the prison's release based on a mere conjecture. Moreover, with the new Frozen Demon's naive mind, which couldn't even outwit him, how could it contend with its original body? Even if his conjecture was correct, waiting for the release would be impossible in his lifetime.

The plan must continue... and so must the devouring!

Others' grand schemes were irrelevant to him. Just as the residual consciousnesses within the Heavenly Demon's shell began the possession process, the Soul Sword cultivated in Wang Yu's Niwan Palace emerged once more. It transformed into an indestructible sword net, guarding his Nascent Spirit. At that moment, a dense demonic mist abruptly appeared around his Nascent Spirit. The power of Heavenly Demon possession was spreading.

Wang Yu silently recited the Prajna Heart Sutra. His mental power flowed from the space of his Heart Lake like a trickling stream. This versatile power could also mount a defensive response against possession. It was even more suitable than divine sense itself for defending against such external demonic invasions. The light of the Seven-Heart Treasure Wheel Sacred Tree, carried by his mental power, swept gently with a pure, milky-white radiance. The demonic mist quickly dissipated, as fragile as paper.

With a heart like pure glass, Heavenly Demons are difficult to invade!

When the power of the Six Desires could no longer exploit weaknesses in Wang Yu's mind, it led to the most fundamental confrontation: a complete Nascent Spirit, wielding a soul-slaying weapon, battled against the phantom-like Heavenly Demon will. What should have been a dangerously lopsided battle to the death, became an evenly matched struggle due to the Heavenly Demon's exceptionally powerful possession techniques. As a being whose racial talent was possession, it held too great an advantage in this aspect.

Despite Wang Yu's meticulous preparations, his chances of victory remained at fifty percent. The next phase was a contest of Nascent Spirit resilience. The highly skilled possession techniques allowed the Heavenly Demon to evade most of Wang Yu's divine sense attacks, and even find openings to counterattack. Only a Heavenly Demon could exhibit such instinctive reactions.

As a result, Wang Yu often had to endure three or four claw attacks before striking the Heavenly Demon once, and this was with a tactical mindset of trading injuries for kills. It was a continuous struggle, with constant injuries. Naturally, it evolved into a contest of Nascent Spirit foundations. But one must not forget that outside, Wang Yu's absorption of the Heavenly Demon was still ongoing. As time passed, the Heavenly Demon's power would steadily weaken. This... was also the source of his fifty percent chance of victory.

To stall was to win.

Driven by instinct, the longer time passed, the more frantic the Heavenly Demon's movements became. Even without its self-awareness, the instinct for survival made it increasingly tenacious. It was unclear how much time had passed, perhaps one month, or two. Or perhaps half a year, or a full year. The struggle within the consciousness seemed to defy the concept of time, but it would eventually end.

Outside, the Heavenly Demon's shell completely vanished, its essence perfectly merging into Wang Yu's body, prompting a new evolution of the Demonic Embryo. This sensation was remarkably similar to a Nascent Soul breaking through to Soul Transformation.

Demonic Embryo, Demonic Embryo... since it was an embryo, it naturally had the potential to grow into a mature entity. The Innate Demonic Embryo Physique had integrated the Five Elements Heavenly Spirit Roots, three innate aptitudes of Heavenly Spirit Root level (Ice, Yin, Blood), and a Mid-grade Lightning Spirit Root aptitude. All these had transformed into manifestations of demonic cultivation aptitude.

When it came to cultivating the demonic path, he was a professional! Any demonic cultivation inheritance would become incredibly simple in his hands, with very low cultivation difficulty. The single character "demon" encompassed far too much. Of course, this was assuming it didn't exceed the limit of Spirit Physique level aptitudes.

Now, the Innate Demonic Embryo Physique had evolved once more. It could now be called the Innate Demonic Body! Its grade had surpassed the scope of a Spirit Physique, and the Heavenly Demon Myriad Transformations ability had also advanced and transformed. Concurrently, a new ability was being born within him.

A second physique-type talent!

Although its effect was not yet clear, it was foreseeable that it would be no worse than Heavenly Demon Myriad Transformations. After experiencing the speed at which he absorbed and refined spiritual energy, Wang Yu actually felt that his Innate Demonic Body had completely matched the cultivation speed of his Ice Phoenix form. Was this equivalent to a True Spirit bloodline aptitude?

"No... the previous Myriad Transformations simulation wasn't comprehensive, and the physical sensation was flawed, which created this illusion. However, its quality is definitely equivalent to a top-grade fierce beast bloodline, with its potential limit reaching Dao Integration." He muttered to himself, quickly making a judgment.

Human aptitudes and demon beast bloodlines couldn't be equated entirely; it was merely an analogy. However, to some extent, the meaning they represented was the same. Just as a discarded spirit root made it difficult for a cultivator to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Condensation throughout their life. This limitation stemmed from their speed of refining spiritual energy, progress in comprehending cultivation methods, and so on. While some external means could overcome it, breaking through to Foundation Establishment was absolutely impossible.

This concept could be divided into normal potential and extreme potential. Still using the discarded spirit root as an example: A cultivator with this aptitude could normally cultivate to the third level of Qi Condensation; this was their normal potential. By relying on various conventional means, they could forcefully cultivate to the peak of Qi Condensation, which was their extreme potential.

Of course, heaven-defying methods like the Profound Origin Demonic Embryo Secret Technique or the Foundation Seizing Art were not considered conventional means. The aptitude level of the Innate Demonic Body was unknown to him due to a lack of corresponding information. However, by comparing it to the effects of demon beast bloodlines, he could determine that its normal potential reached the Dao Integration stage.

This aptitude meant that he could cultivate smoothly to Dao Integration without encountering man-made disasters. Although he would encounter bottlenecks along the way, he would overcome them easily. There was also a significant improvement in esoteric aspects like comprehension, ensuring he could meet the minimum standard for achieving Dao Integration.

This was the enhancement brought by the Innate Demonic Body, a kind of... safety net?

Waking from the struggle within his Nascent Spirit, Wang Yu's condition had not fully recovered. The injuries to his Nascent Spirit were particularly difficult to heal, with a negligible chance of natural recovery. They would only be completely cured when he next cultivated the Heavenly Star Fate Nurturing Qi Marvelous Technique.

But the outcome was still favorable. The Heavenly Demon was eventually devoured by him, albeit with some peril. The depth of his foundational reserves was the greatest contributor to his victory, which also made him pay more attention to accumulating such foundations.

"The second talent of the Innate Demonic Body is still incubating. I'll sleep first, then think about it."

Three months later, after sleeping for a full ninety days, Wang Yu finally awoke from his near-fainting state, realizing that the improvements brought by the Demonic Body had stabilized. Increased physical strength, purer demonic essence, expanded Qi Sea—these were all fundamental effects. Such formidable aptitude naturally provided him with a foundation far superior to others at the same stage. Otherwise, how could he possibly have the reserves to achieve Dao Integration? Thus, the improvements forged by the Demonic Body were incredibly comprehensive. It almost single-handedly raised his combat power ceiling once again.

The second talent was still incubating, lacking a certain catalyst for its birth. After observing it, Wang Yu no longer worried and instead turned to cultivating the Qi Nurturing secret technique. He hoped to slowly recover his Nascent Spirit injuries through the secret technique.

And so, after the first cultivation session, his injuries had partially recovered. It was estimated that it would take around three more sessions to fully heal, indicating the severity of this injury. The Marvelous Qi Nurturing Technique required somewhat long intervals, but restoring his peak condition within ten years would be no problem.

Therefore, Wang Yu began his third-stage objective: comprehending a new Intent! His comprehension of the Yellow Springs Law Intent was once again postponed. He wanted to achieve a breakthrough in the Vast Cold Law Intent, as theoretically, this integrated Law Intent was more powerful. In fact, whether it was Asura, Yellow Springs, or Aurora, all belonged to higher-grade Law Intents. The Vast Cold excelled in its composite nature; the combination of Lunar Yin and frost was indeed superior.

"Heavenly Demon Myriad Transformations—Ice Phoenix Form!"

The first Myriad Transformation after his physique's metamorphosis. Truly perfectly simulating a True Spirit bloodline, new changes began immediately.

"Innate divine abilities, bloodline inheritances, racial memories..."