After being rescued by Wu Chang from the dead-end alley, I made a decision to never again involve myself in anything related to the supernatural.
That dead-end alley would undoubtedly become the nightmare of the rest of my life. I no longer wanted to be trapped in such a terrifying predicament.
However, Wu Chang's words shattered my plans for the future.
"It seems you've already come to understand the terror of the supernatural. In that case, let me tell you something very important. Consider it a way to mentally prepare for your future."
"...What are you going to say?" I immediately had a bad premonition.
"The moment you accidentally found yourself caught in a supernatural event, you and the ordinary people out there who remain oblivious were already separated by a line. From now on, stop thinking you'll be able to live out the rest of your life in peace." Perhaps he was trying to warn me with good intentions, but to me, his words felt incredibly cruel. "There's a saying in Mount Luo: 'When you encounter the supernatural, you are bound to it.'"
"Although Mount Luo still hasn't figured out the principles behind this phenomenon, statistics show that people who have experienced supernatural events have a much higher probability of encountering them again in the future, almost as if they are cursed.
"Unless you're the legendary 'Great Wu Chang,' immune to all evil and causing demons and monsters to flee at the sight of you, you'll undoubtedly face similar dangers again."
Unable to face it, unable to escape, the shadow of the supernatural had already entangled itself with my fate.
Under these circumstances, I had only one choice. Although, from a rational perspective, it was a natural decision, it still took a lot of effort to convince myself. That was to dive into the world of the supernatural and learn the skills necessary to handle such events.
With the help of that kind-hearted Wu Chang, I used a letter of recommendation to join Mount Luo and became an apprentice there.
Most of the other apprentices at Mount Luo had similar experiences to mine—they were ordinary people who had encountered supernatural events, and they joined Mount Luo to learn survival skills. The typical training period was four years, though there were some exceptions. Upon graduation, there were generally two paths: one was to become a true demon hunter with the power to hunt the supernatural; the other was to remain unable to become a hunter, serving as a "probe" for their predecessors.
Just by the name, it was clear that probes were expendable within Mount Luo. Although they were referred to as "Mount Luo Agents" outside, both in the eyes of Mount Luo and in the eyes of the probes themselves, they were still half-outsiders. Even though Mount Luo would provide them with safety equipment out of obligation, the death rate of agents in the field remained high.
I wanted to become a demon hunter, to have power. Since I would inevitably encounter the supernatural again in the future, at least let me master the means to protect myself. With intense fear and a desperate desire, I immersed myself in learning everything related to demon hunting. Looking back, even before the college entrance exams, I had never been as passionate about studying as I was then.
At that time, the reason I was so helpless must have been because I lacked power. If I had the strength to break through that dead-end alley, or even had the immunity to illusions and the power to slay evil spirits with a single sword, like Wu Chang at that time, would I have been so desperate?
All fear and despair in this world come from a lack of strength.
However, I despaired once again.
Most of the Mount Luo apprentices did not have the talent to become demon hunters, and neither did I. After four years, I was still powerless and had to return to the mundane world as a probe.
Then, several years, more than a decade passed...
Nearly twenty years had passed, and such a long time was enough to change many things. For example, the Wu Chang who had saved me in the past had now been reassigned to "Patrol" and, by coincidence, had become my superior.
There were also many unchanging things, such as myself, who was always unable to obtain what I desired.
As a Mount Luo agent, I had encountered numerous supernatural events. Thanks to my cautiousness driven by fear, and more importantly, thanks to some crucial luck, I had managed to survive. However, the fear inside me had not faded. I was well aware that my survival thus far was nothing but a stroke of luck. Meanwhile, the colleagues I had come to know were dying one after another, tragically, just like my friends who had entered that dead-end alley with me in the past. They left me alone in the bottomless darkness.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
During this time, I also tried to continue my studies, repeatedly challenging myself at the gates of becoming a demon hunter. But the world of talent is incredibly cruel—some things are simply innate, and some things cannot be obtained. The gates to becoming a demon hunter remained firmly closed.
Perhaps I would never achieve my wish. One day, I would surely emerge with regret, buried once again in that darkness.
At the moment of my despair, a stranger wearing a silver mask appeared before me, bringing with him a hope laced with hidden poison.
Having been a Mount Luo agent for so many years, I had accumulated vast experience in observing the supernatural. Therefore, I could immediately tell that this masked stranger was wrapped in an air of strange and madness-driven energy from head to toe. Beneath his seemingly rational and confident speech, there lurked the face of a madman.
He was a lunatic, and any words he spoke should not be trusted. I had to distance myself from this dangerous man immediately.
But the words he spoke made it impossible for me to refuse.
"Do you want power?"
"...Power?"
"From the look in your eyes, it seems you know what kind of person I am. Likewise, I can see through the cowardly face you've worked so hard to hide."
"No need to be so angry. It's natural to be afraid of dangerous things, to want to stay away from them. That's human nature. When the granary is full, people know propriety; when their food and clothing are adequate, they know honor and disgrace. Courage is the same. People often think courage is the companion of the weak, but that's absurd talk from fools brainwashed by peace and order. Courage without power is merely a fool's self-satisfaction. True courage must be born from power."
"And what I bring you now is the treasure you've longed for and begged for, but never obtained."
Right before me, he took it out.
I couldn't take my eyes off of it.
"What is this?"
"True courage."
His voice was like the seductive whisper of a devil.
---
In the end, I accepted the "gift" from that person.
He called himself the "Creator of Oddities," and both his true name and background were unknown, with movements as elusive as a shadow. What he gave me was called the "Seed of the Heart." It was an unusual object that could merge with my body and bring me power.
While using this power, I transformed into a demon with a goat's head and could control the power of shadows at will. This power was extraordinarily strong, and just having obtained it, I surpassed the "Disintegration" level in terms of strength.
The community of demon hunters generally divides their cultivation path into four stages: Formation, Existence, Disintegration, and Emptiness, based on the Buddhist stages of the world's birth to its end.
"Emptiness" corresponds to ordinary people with no power. As the name suggests, they cannot exert any magical abilities, their bodies essentially empty. Many demon hunters just beginning their cultivation journey, who can only manipulate external natural forces and have not yet developed their own magic, are classified in this stage.
"Disintegration" corresponds to most demon hunters. Just as a person who does not regularly review their knowledge will gradually forget what they once mastered, or someone who doesn’t exercise will lose muscle strength, hunters in this stage are in a "resisting the current; if you don't progress, you regress" situation. Some demon hunters at the "Disintegration" level may possess strength equal to those at the "Existence" level, but they still face the risk of power degradation and must continually train and improve.
"Existence" level demon hunters do not have such concerns. Their magic has transformed both their souls and bodies, deeply integrating with them to become a permanent power. From their perspective, hunters at the "Disintegration" level are like those who rely on powerful magical tools or those who accidentally awaken supernatural abilities—essentially, just ordinary people wielding powerful weapons. Only those at the "Existence" level can be considered truly extraordinary, the "true demon hunters," and they are also the backbone of Mount Luo.
"Formation" level demon hunter symbolizes the limit of the cultivation path. Demon hunters at this stage can no longer evolve further, as they have reached the summit—this is the literal "completion" stage.
Originally, even if I were to become a demon hunter, I would have to start from the "Emptiness" stage and reverse the path from the world's birth to its destruction. However, with the help of the "Seed of the Heart," I immediately touched the threshold of the "Existence" stage. If Mount Luo were to discover this, it would undoubtedly cause massive upheaval.
But I also knew very well that the "Creator of Oddities" handing me this item could not have been for free.
The "Seed of the Heart" itself came with considerable side effects. The "Creator of Oddities" explicitly told me that anyone I killed would have their soul automatically devoured by me. The more souls I consumed, the greater my desire to consume more. It was an instinct of the body, like throwing a fragrant piece of roasted meat in front of a starving person—they would inevitably want to tear it apart and devour it. Only during the digestion process would this evil craving subside.
The "Creator of Oddities" also had his own demands of me, though compared to the side effects, these demands were perhaps not that significant. He required regular checks on my body, as well as the collection of my blood and other bodily tissues. I was also to report my physical condition to him as if I were a patient with an illness.
It was clear that he considered me a test subject. To him, I was not important; what mattered was what changes the "Seed of the Heart" would undergo within me.
I wasn't foolish enough to resist him with violence; threatening the shopkeeper with a gun I bought from a gun store would only work in a bad joke. Although I didn't know what kind of power he possessed, he certainly had the means to suppress me.
The power I gained from the "Seed of the Heart" made me feel triumphant, but the urge to kill plunged me into anxiety. Before thinking about resisting the Creator of Oddities, I had to find a way to deal with the immediate problem.