Archives of Truth: The Heavenly Demon and the Wisp of Rebellion

Upon his ascension to a true one, the Heavenly Demon did not celebrate, he had yet to dominate, he had yet to lead the sheep to deliverance, before him lay an entire civilization of Primordial ones.

He possessed a flame of ambition and drive like no other, however that flame was not free of cost.

The path of the imperium was one that demanded sacrifice, without sacrifice there was nothing.

In his quest he realized that he alone was not enough, but that was not adequate to force him into relationships with others.

Before his ascension, before he had become one true, he had to deliver himself to salvation and dominate even himself.

In his madness he tore from him, his worldly desires. From his torn desires arose another, the antithesis to his crazed ambition.

The Dual Divine Demon, an amalgamation of his desires, a tool that would assist him, a tool that would hold unto itself all that he could not.

It bore his pain, his guilt and even his love.

Indeed even the Heavenly Demon had to sever himself, even he, the destined slave of change, could not evade from the curse of humanity.

Feng Zhiming somehow read more of the book before he awoke. As the light had engulfed him, he did not fear. What was there to fear?

“They do not want me dead yet.” he thought to himself.

It wasn’t a problem for him, if he died he would be free, but that did not happen, his curse continued without respite, from the day he opened that book.

As he opened his eyes he found himself sitting atop a rock in a dense forest.

Around him there was only greenery, trees, plants and the chirps of crickets.

He tried to deploy his spiritual sense and it failed. He smiled as he realized where he was, it was truly the Heart and the creature was close.

“Have you seen?” A woman’s voice appeared in his mind.

His tainted eye and arm both began to throb as the woman spoke.

“See what? The small stream to my side, or the tall trees, or maybe the insects eating away at the leaves of this tree.” he replied as he looked up, a dark sky filled with stars above him.

It had been day when he stepped into the heart and now it was night, he was somewhere else entirely.

“You’ve conversed with the Scholar of Black, you want an accord, you do not want to be a tool.” she spoke in an understanding tone.

“Hmm, if it can offer me what I ask, I can agree to a deal.”

He inhaled slowly as the smell of the lush forest entered his mind.

“Deals and negotiations are for those who are equal, are you such a person?”

Feng Zhiming chuckled, he remembered saying that to someone before.

“In my eyes, I am the only person. Everyone else is a thing, how can a thing be equal to me?”

“Quite arrogant, unbecoming of a young man.”

“It is not arrogance, it is the truth, a desperate and haunting truth, and tragically the one who can convince me otherwise does not make itself known.”

It was quiet for a moment.

“Very well, you want to deal with the lord on equal footing, do something worthy.”

A sinister smile dawned on Feng Zhiming’s face.

“You want a performance, let me show you something worth watching.”

He tore away his top and jumped up to the tallest tree nearest to him.

He looked out into the distance, killing intent emanating from him.

“Let me show you why I was called Feral the Man.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

A strong young man with black hair sitting atop a tree branch at night, his left arm covered in black lines, topless wearing black silk pants, one of his eyes a dark abyss and the other a dark red contrasting the darkness, gazing into the distance in manhwa style [https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIG4.GSFwmLP8uhVGJ3OG3Spv?w=1024&h=1024&rs=1&pid=ImgDetMain]

…

Daiyu awoke slowly, she felt around herself looking for something.

Her hand found itself rubbing against someone's face.

“Hands to yourself woman.” a familiar voice reached her ears.

Krimin brushed away her hand as he stood up, in the same forest as Feng Zhiming.

Daiyu ignored his comment and slowly stood up as well.

“My divine sense is blocked.” she spoke as she tried to survey the surroundings.

Krimin frowned.

“It’s not just the divine sense, my core, foundation and even soul have both become inactive, they’re dormant.” he spoke as he unsheathed his saber.

This was something unheard of, something no one could have predicted.

“We’ve fallen to Qi condensation.” Daiyu exhaled sharply.

Her hands curled up into fists.

“He evaded even a Holy Knight!” she spoke with an enraged expression on her face.

The bushes shook as someone came running through.

Krimin instinctively raised his saber but promptly withdrew it as he saw the face that came through.

“Orion.” Daiyu spoke as she saw the beaten and bloody man.

Orion looked at the two of them with a relieved expression

“Sister Daiyu, demonic bastard.”

Normally he’d be angry upon seeing Krimin, but in this bizarre situation he couldn’t help but be happy he found them.

“What is this, where are we?” he asked.

“This is it, the Heart of the Wildlands, we’ve been sucked in.” Daiyu replied as she looked around.

“More importantly, why are you so tattered?” she asked Orion after seeing his sorry state.

“This forest is home to demon beasts, I’ve only seen two at the first order but they attacked me.”

Krimin nodded and added to the conversation “And as Qi condensation cultivators our vitality is weak and our recovery limited.”

“The cultivation of so many years, rendered useless just like that.” Orion gritted his teeth and spoke while looking down at his bruised hands.

Was this the result of the blood sweat and tears he had put into the world, was this the measure of a cultivator?

Daiyu closed her eyes for a moment before coming up with the next move. The top priority was still finding Feng Zhiming, but without divine sense they would have to search the old fashioned way.

“Find the other disciples, there is strength in numbers.” She spoke as she stood up and began to walk.

“There is also death in numbers.” Krimin spoke a word of warning.

Daiyu ignored him and he followed her anyway.

“She may be peculiar but her ability to see the future was not fabricated. Before Feng Zhiming had stepped foot into the mountain, she knew what would happen.” He thought to himself.

Orion left without any other option reluctantly walked behind Krimin.

…

“Oh, it’s Orion’s woman, what was your name again Aliza or Lize or Lisa.” Futian spoke as he saw the group of demonic cultivators in front of him.

She rolled her eyes.

“This isn’t a time for introductions, orthodox dove. We’re in a dangerous situation.” Liza replied as she looked at the group of orthodox disciples in front of her.

It was roughly a difference of thirty to fifteen, since the orthodoxy had two sects and they only had one.

Suspiciously enough, either the rest of the sect members were scattered or the light had not sucked them all in.

The disciples of the Celestial Haven Sect obviously sided with Futian, in terms of seniority other than the elders, Daiyu and Orion, he was at the forefront.

On the unorthodox side they all stood behind Liza, the most senior among them.

“Senior brother, this is our chance, we could exterminate them.” A disciple whispered into Futian’s ear.

Futian rubbed his chin as he considered the option, the dual divine demon sect did lack combat prowess compared to the other sects.

Before Futian could conclude his thought, three more figures appeared from the bushes behind Liza.

Anissa, Lyra and Ellia. Somehow all three of them had ended up together.

Anissa went to stand beside Liza, it was obvious from her expression she was frustrated and since she was from the unorthodox faction she followed her instincts.

Lyra and Ellia stuck close to her, they knew that if they stuck to her they had the highest chance of finding Feng Zhiming.

Ellia was fully outfitted in his armor and had his great sword drawn, he definitely looked the most intimidating out of everyone there.

"Put away that killing intent before I roast you alive." Lyra said as she looked at the glaring Futian.

“Tsk.” Futian clicked his tongue, the fight had just become tougher.

He gestured to the disciples and began walking in the opposite direction, the best thing they could do was find the elders and have them help in leaving this place.

They walked in a combat formation, accounting for attacks on all sides, they even sent scouts in every direction.

Futian wasn't one to forget how to survive, even if he wasn't the image of righteousness.

After a few minutes of walking he was interrupted.

The disciple that had been speaking to Futian earlier pulled his sleeve before whispering something else into his ear.

"What? Can't use your words?" Futian said as he turned his head.

The disciple looked frightened.

"Senior brother... there."

"Speak up, your name is Arius right? What is it?" he was the same disciple that suggested they fight the demonic sect earlier.

Arius pointed to the bushes in front of them.

As Futian walked through the bushes he instantly understood why the disciple had been so frightened.

A member of the orthodoxy, more specifically a member of the Celestial Haven Sect that they had sent ahead to scout was nailed to a tree with torn branches.

His eyes were torn out, his intestines ripped from his stomach and laid upon the ground.

Arranged into a clear message.

"Death to cultivators."

29 disciples of the orthodoxy remaining.