Chapter 7 - Fiend Transformation Technique

The mysterious woman stared down at Yaan in silence. Yaan forced himself to push through the pain in order to look up at her, with a near-begging expression on his face. He was no longer able to speak, nor was he able to see through this woman’s thoughts or feelings in any way.

Finally, after what felt like an endless stretch of time, she spoke.

“There is one method that has a small chance of success. Listen carefully, because after I act, I will fall into a deep slumber to recover my strength.”

Yaan was dazed by her words, but he continued to look up at her. He forced himself to focus through the pain so that he could listen carefully. His despair was pushed aside and he now felt the faintest trace of hope in this seemingly hopeless predicament.

“I will forcefully transmit the ‘Fiend Transformation Technique’ into your mind. Once I use this method, the technique will act on its own. First, it will wrack your body with an unspeakable pain as you develop the fiend foundation. If you lose consciousness during this time, you will die. On top of that, you need to kill one hundred humans before reaching the age of ten, or you will die. If you do survive the initial transformation, take this ring and keep it with you at all times.”

The mysterious beauty who had spoken so little until now, rapidly said some fairly crazy things. By the time she finished speaking, Yaan wondered if perhaps he had made a dubious decision, digging himself into an even deeper hole. However, what other choice did he have? Either way, it was too late now for regrets.

The woman walked across to his shaking body with an elegance not seen in mortal women, then leaned over and gently pressed her thumb against his forehead. Yaan’s eyes widened as a flow of energy and knowledge filled his mind. Before long, he came back to his senses, only to find that the woman had vanished without a trace.

However, now was not the time to ponder this bizarre matter. The energy she poured into his mind immediately became integrated with both his conscious mind and his memories. Yaan instantly understood that he had been gifted with an extremely evil cultivation technique, one that would even transform his body into an entirely different race, a demonic race! Not only that, but the mysterious woman had already started circulating the technique through his body for him, forcing Yaan to undergo this ‘fiend transformation’ here and now.

There was nothing that Yaan needed to do, other than remaining conscious throughout the duration of the transformation. He remembered what she said about not falling asleep, but found that the pain caused by his consumption of the strange fish was keeping him awake anyway.

It was as if the technique possessed a mind and will of its own. According to the process dictated by the technique, his body was continually undergoing adjustments and changes. His muscles, bones, organs and blood vessels all rearranged themselves into a different layout within his body.

There was no massive change on the outside, but these thousands of minor adjustments occurring every second, left Yaan convulsing on the dusty ground. His body was tormented by an agony like nothing else he had felt throughout his short life. The pain was so intense that he could hardly remember what was going on anymore, only that he needed to stay conscious.

These changes to his body actually seemed to be improving his resistance to the demonic energy that was being continually released by the fish’s flesh. The black energy that was previously running rampant whilst damaging and corroding his internal organs, was now readily absorbed by his muscles and into his bloodstream, even assisting with the progression of the transformation process!

Yaan’s vision had long since turned white, he was extremely light headed and lingering on the verge of passing out. The only thing holding him together was his overwhelming desire to live, which coexisted within him alongside his fear of death.

Time passed by slowly and painfully. Eventually, the convulsions began to reduce in their frequency. Yaan lay down on the ground, covered in dirt which uncomfortably stuck to his blood-soaked body. His ragged clothing was now even more disheveled, made sticky after absorbing his blood.

“Guh…” Yaan sat up dizzily and groaned. He clutched his head and grimaced, feeling a powerful migraine assaulting his senses. Still though, he felt a sense of joy despite the pain, because he had at least managed to survive!

Unfortunately, he quickly realised that his survival was nothing secure. He could confirm that the transformation was a success, meaning that he had indeed developed this ‘fiend foundation’. The technique was still fresh in his mind, as if he had memorised it himself. This was why Yaan felt somewhat begrudging, despite his survival.

The mysterious woman hadn’t been joking. According to this technique, he really would die if he didn’t slay 100 people by the age of ten…

He also now understood why she had asked for his age. This technique was only possible to learn between the ages of five and nine. Yaan had never heard of a technique like this, but then again, he only knew of one other cultivation technique anyway.

“I don’t want to kill anyone…” He muttered to himself, showing an unwilling and frustrated expression.

What sort of child would feel good at the prospect of being forced to kill 100 people? Certainly not Yaan.

He thought back to that bitter memory, the memory of Elder Sun massacring his family. He soon found himself recalling the scene of Xinti killing Falca so savagely. Yaan couldn’t imagine himself committing the same sorts of atrocities as those vile individuals whom he despised so deeply.

No…actually, he would happily kill Elder Sun and Xinti.

“Then…I just need to kill evil people?” Yaan had this thought, but quickly realised something. Did he even possess the ability to kill? He was just a small and malnourished child, he could barely kill a chicken or a goat!

After gathering his thoughts together, Yaan didn’t immediately return to Zong Village. Before heading out, he actually decided to consume more of the fish that the mysterious woman called a ‘demonic beast’. This might seem stupid given that he nearly lost his life due to eating this fish just an hour earlier, but Yaan quickly realised that he wasn’t the same fragile child as before.

Having the fiend foundation meant that his body had transformed into something inhuman, something able to process the so called ‘demonic energy’ within this fish. Despite knowing this, his first bite was small and filled with anxiety. It was only after waiting for another half hour and confirming that he was really fine, that Yaan built up enough confidence to eat more.

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His stomach had been filled to the point of bursting prior to the transformation, but it was now empty once again. Undergoing the transformation burned up a truly enormous amount of energy; he only felt satisfied after consuming another one third of the bitter fish’s flesh.

Looking down at the remaining third of the black beast, Yaan decided to take it back to his home in Zong Village. It probably wouldn’t stay fresh for long, but it would probably be fine to eat the following day. Yaan carefully placed the remaining fish into the bag which he used to drag lumber, wrapping it around a few times to disguise the smell.

He was extremely cautious during his return to the village. If he was caught with this fish, he didn’t know if someone might report him to Xinti, and that tyrant would certainly give him trouble for it. For now at least, Yaan wanted to keep the recent events a secret.

Luckily, it seemed like nobody cared enough to pay close attention to him. He passed by multiple people, but they were all starved and lethargic, fully focussed on themselves and their own survival, without the luxury to care about the lives of anyone else. Yaan realised that so long as he didn’t bump into Xinti or Jash directly, then his actions should go unnoticed.

Today, he hadn’t brought back any lumber. However, there were over a hundred residents in the village and Xinti would neither notice nor care if he missed a single day of work. Working wasn’t mandatory in the first place, but everyone would work for their food under normal circumstances. Since Yaan had eaten so much already, he didn’t care about his meagre potato rations right now.

When he finally returned to his home, Yaan breathed out a sigh of relief. He stored the fish under his bed, then sat down on the bed and closed his eyes.

He was examining all of the information he possessed regarding the Fiend Transformation Technique.

Yaan was unsure how cultivation techniques usually worked, since he had nothing for comparison. The Fiend Transformation Technique though, appeared to be a one time transformation with lasting implications for his body, which paved the way for his future progress. This was known as the ‘fiend foundation’.

The transformation caused changes in the human child’s body, forcing it to develop the fiend foundation. This ‘foundation’ was an alteration to the body’s internal structure, allowing the person to become a true fiend later on, a type of demonic race being. However, this was not without its cost.

As Yaan already knew, he needed to kill 100 humans by the age of ten. This was because the fiend foundation would grow unstable without any supporting Innate Qi, and the only way for a person with the fiend foundation to ascend to the Qi Gathering realm, was through slaughter.

Even if he obtained another cultivation technique, it would be completely useless in assisting his progression towards the first stage of cultivation, the Qi Gathering Realm. The only viable method for him to reach this first stage was to kill 100 humans in order to accumulate Slaughter Aura. At that point, the accumulated Slaughter Aura within his body would trigger a drastic change, causing his body to rapidly absorb Spiritual Energy from the surroundings, letting him step into the Qi Gathering Realm naturally.

There were also some restrictions regarding the ways in which he killed. He needed to kill the 100 people of his own free will, he couldn’t be controlled by someone else. On top of that, there was a chance that he could lose his mind due to the accumulation of Slaughter Aura within himself.

Whilst reading through this mass of information which was firmly imprinted in his mind like a well-memorised passage of text, Yaan sighed to himself.

This technique was really strange to say the least. He couldn’t imagine why someone would choose to learn this under any normal circumstances. The only benefit he could see to this technique over the basic cultivation technique sold by the Heavenly Path Sect, was that the Fiend Transformation Technique also allowed him to strengthen his body.

For the remainder of the night, Yaan didn’t sleep for a single second. He spent the night sat silently on his wooden bed, mulling over his options. He felt inner turmoil towards his situation, which he saw as both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, he had been given an opportunity to gain real, tangible strength, but on the other hand, he needed to kill before even beginning his journey.

Yaan felt torn. He didn’t want to kill innocent people! If he did something like that, then how was he any better than Elder Sun?

As the night passed by, Yaan pondered over this question time and time again. The conflict within his heart reached a peak by midnight, but it slowly began to unravel as Yaan’s thoughts started to change. Eventually, his gaze changed subtly, causing the light in his eyes to become a shade darker than before. He had found his answer.

“Killing to avenge my family is far different compared to Elder Sun, who takes lives like cutting grass. If I just kill evil people who deserve it…and if it is for revenge…then I am willing to kill!”

He thought about his family, and also about Falca and Una who had both died needlessly. Jash had turned his back on their past relationship whilst Elia’s status was unknown.

At this point, who was he even trying to protect? Wasn’t he just foolishly clinging onto a naive way of thinking, holding himself back from achieving what he truly wished for?

To kill Elder Sun.

Right, when it came down to it, this was still his deepest desire. Now that he had been presented with this unlikely opportunity, he definitely wouldn’t let it go!

“But still, I will not kill innocents.” Yaan wore a firm expression as he promised himself this. He didn’t want to become like the man he hated so much, so he vowed to only kill those he deemed deserving of death.

Yaan had not yet realised it, but the Fiend Transformation Technique was already affecting his mind and his way of thinking, subtly but surely. The past him could never have resolutely committed himself to slaughtering 100 people, but now, he already saw this as something feasible.

Of course, he couldn’t be impatient. If he stupidly ran out right this moment and attempted to take Xinti’s life, he would suffer regardless of the outcome. For one, he would almost certainly be killed on the spot. Xinti was a cultivator whilst Yaan was just a mortal. Yaan’s body had been slightly strengthened after developing the fiend foundation, but the strengthened body of a malnourished child couldn’t even match up to a normal adult, no matter a cultivator at the Qi Gathering Realm.

Secondly, even if by some miracle he did win, Yaan was sure that the Heavenly Path Sect wouldn’t let him go if he killed one of their true members. Xinti was actually an inner sect disciple, but he was put in charge of the outer sect’s Zong Village as a duty to the sect. The sect didn’t seem to value the outer sect disciples, but from what Yaan had heard, they truly took care of the inner sect disciples.

Because of these two reasons, there was only one way in which Yaan could successfully kill Xinti without suffering from the repercussions; he needed to kill him in his sleep, without being discovered.

If it was three months ago, when he had first arrived in the outer sect, Yaan wouldn’t have dared to think along this path. But now, things were different. He knew that Qi Gathering Realm cultivators like Xinti weren’t as invincible as he had once believed. They still needed to sleep, and their physical bodies were still weak.

After deciding on the most suitable course of action, Yaan began to act, slowly and patiently. He continued with his daily job so as to avoid raising suspicion, but he only bothered working the minimum hours required to survive.

Aside from this, he spent any free time subtly observing Xinti and his routine, trying to find a reliable time to strike. Luckily, Xinti was a creature of habit. He rose at first light, cultivated until lunch, ate an excessive lunch, cultivated some more, then spent three hours in the evening confirming people’s work. Well, he hardly even did that much, since he delegated this job to Jash, another young boy and a girl.

During his time observing the hateful tyrant, Yaan learned something that he really wished he had not known. The girl who assisted Xinti with his work…was being ravaged by him every night. Xinti was a young man, but this girl was only a teenager. On witnessing this horrifying scene for the first time by chance, Yaan had no idea what he was seeing. He was only six years old after all, he had not yet been taught about the matters between men and women.

After talking to some other boys cautiously, he quickly discovered the truth. He felt no less disgusted after learning about sexual matters, though. If anything, he became even more certain that Xinti was someone vile and deplorable.

With further observation, Yaan grew accustomed to the behaviour of Xinti and the three people who followed him around like obedient lap dogs. Yaan discovered that by following Xinti, those three were all able to reliably eat their fill everyday, without working half as hard compared to everyone else.

They were also given more authority, sometimes beating down those who annoyed Xinti.

When Yaan witnessed the hint of pleasure and superiority that flashed across Jash’s face as he kicked a young girl in the stomach, Yaan finally cut off any feelings of mercy towards him. In fact, the more Yaan observed these people, the more he saw of how they were being corrupted by their ‘power’. Unknowingly, Yaan’s worldview was slowly becoming increasingly warped by the cruel reality of this world.

Another three months flew by. Yaan continued to observe his targets each and every day. Unknowingly, his 7th birthday had passed by…but his mindset had strayed far from any ordinary seven year old.

“Humans…before, there were people that I wanted to protect, but…do any of them really deserve to be protected in the first place? Could it be that given the right circumstances, everyone is capable of becoming like those vile people? Perhaps, all of us have the potential to become hateful creatures…maybe even me…”

He thought this as he stared at Jash. The boy he once knew had become a complete stranger to Yaan.

Currently, Jash was boasting and acting arrogantly in front of the new children who had recently arrived in Zong Village. Yaan’s gaze that used to stare at Jash with malice and ill intent, was now empty and numb.

Towards Jash, Yaan felt that he was somewhat pitiful. He had grown content with his position of authority, forgetting that he himself had once been afraid, just like the people whom he now beat down without a shred of mercy. Not only that, but Jash accepted his position under Xinti whole-heartedly, even convincing himself that Xinti was actually in the right due to his status as a cultivator.

Yaan tore his eyes away from the depressing scene and silently slipped into the dark forest once again. Tonight, everything would change. Tonight was the night that he would finally kill Xinti.