The Devilish Aura spread inside the ring, covering everything that was within it.

The Ethereal Altar was the only thing that could be seen within it clearly. Lin Mu and Xukong were barely able to see each other too despite being close by, which showed just how dense the aura was.

"Aura of the Devil Path? What!?" Lin Mu was stunned.

~SHUA~

And while they were coming to terms with the situation, the Ethereal Altar continued to release more of the Devilish Aura.

"It shouldn't be… If the Devil Path appears…" Xukong muttered in disbelief.

~HONG~

At this moment, Lin Mu felt a wave of energy covering his body.

Streams of information started to pour into his head, as strange and esoteric chants filled his mind.

Lin Mu's vision turned black and he soon felt like he had arrived in an entirely new place.

He was in a barren land that seemed to be charred black. There was death and desolation spread everywhere, while flames burned in the distance. Tall peaks that stabbed the sky could be seen, while a colossal skeleton of a beast hung in the sky.

The skeleton must have been over a thousand kilometer long, as sky could not be seen behind it.

~Jiejiejiejiejie~

~Jiejiejiejiejie~

~Jiejiejiejiejie~

~Jiejiejiejiejie~

Lin Mu heard the eerie laughter again, that was now mixed with the strange chants.

~SHUA~SHUA~SHUA~

A few seconds later, masses of dark energies gathered and hundreds of silhouettes appeared around Lin Mu. They were of different sizes, some being the size of a normal human, while some as tall as mountains!

They had sharp fangs in their mouth, while their bodies overflowed with evil aura.

Some of them had a single horn, some had two horns while some had multiple horns on their heads.

~Jiejiejiejiejie~

~Jiejiejiejiejie~Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

~Jiejiejiejiejie~

The figures continued to laugh, as their numbers increased.

Lin Mu looked around but could not speak. He found his body to be frozen, with the devilish aura overpowering it.

~WHOOSH~

But soon, the Devilish aura didn't just cover his body, but it started to enter it!

As soon as that happened, Lin Mu felt an incredible chill cover his body. His thoughts were in a disarray, but strangely he didn't feel panicked. Instead, his thoughts started to flow in a different route.

Nefarious, cruel and malevolent thoughts filled his mind while his expression turned colder.

It was now that Lin Mu heard the devilish figures speak. They no longer laughed, but actually spoke.

"Reap the souls of all creations, take their providence as yours and bring forth Hell upon the Myriad Heavens! — Behold The Murdering Heart Sutra!"

The chants imprinted themselves onto Lin Mu's mind, and the power of the new sutra flowed through his body.

"Ahahahah…" A low laughter escaped Lin Mu's lips before the scene faded away like an illusion.

He opened his eyes back in the ring's space, his demeanor having changed.

But along with it, the devilish aura filling the space was gone too and even the Ethereal Altar had calmed down.

It was as if nothing had happened and only Xukong was the witness to it all.

"What was…" Lin Mu's expression suddenly changed as he felt an ache in his head.

The cold demeanor returned to his normal one, and an expression of confusion appeared on his face.

"Wait… the next sutra…" Lin Mu felt the new information in his mind.

"Lin Mu, are you fine?" Xukong asked with great concern.

"Y-yes… at least it seems like it?" Lin Mu looked at his body, finding no damage to it.

He then looked around and saw that everything was back to normal.

"Where did that mirror and reflection go?" Lin Mu questioned.

"The Devilish aura and the mirror were both absorbed into your body." Xukong answered much to Lin Mu's surprised.

"They were?" Lin Mu couldn't believe it.

"Yes… shortly after the aura spread you entered a trance." Xukong replied.

"How long was I like that?" Lin Mu asked, unable to tell.

"Not long… just a couple minutes." Xukong replied. "But in that time the Devilish Aura was being absorbed into your body. The mirror was last to go." He explained.

Hearing this Lin Mu was at a loss.

He had obtained the next part of the Nine Divine Heart Sutras but didn't really feel good about it.

Xukong could see his conflicted expression and asked, "what did you obtain?"

"I got the fifth sutra from the Nine Divine Heart Sutras." Lin Mu answered.

Hearing this, Xukong could already guess some things.

'The Aura of the Devil path appeared this time… the sutra is really going to belong to it?' Xukong was conflicted too. "What is it?" he still questioned.

"It is… the Murdering Heart Sutra." Lin Mu revealed.

~Sigh~

Xukong let out a loud sigh upon hearing this. His worst guess had been confirmed.

"I had wished it would not be like this, but since it has been given there's no use…" Xukong muttered. "The fifth sutra belongs to the Devil Path." He spoke.

"The Devil Path…" Lin Mu muttered. "How's it different than the Demonic Path?" he asked.

"The Demonic Path belongs to the demons, who are merely violent, it isn't necessarily malevolent. But the Devil Path… that's inherently evil. The Devils are creatures born from evil. Their entire existence is meant to create havoc and erase life." Xukong explained.

~gulp~

Hearing this, Lin Mu couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

"But now I have a power belonging to it…" Lin Mu spoke. "Why would it give me this? And what was that reflection?" he had many questions.

"I don't know why there is a sutra like this, but the reflection you saw was a Heart Devil." Xukong answered. "They are also born from a cultivator, but unlike Heart Demons, they are a lot more terrifying. Heart demons are formed from regret and obsessions, but Heart Devils are born from negativity of the cultivators."

"This…" Hearing this, Lin Mu was astounded.

He now understood the reflection's words. It was speaking the truth… since it was born from himself!