I Can Upgrade Everything Infinitely-Chapter 140 - 139: The Truth! Heart Demon

Xu Qing connected his consciousness to the Encyclopedia of All Things and first upgraded the Celestial Roc Technique. The Encyclopedia flickered with a fluorescent glow.

HUM! HUM!

At the same time, countless images appeared before Xu Qing’s eyes. Within them, innumerable small black figures were practicing the Celestial Roc Technique.

BOOM!

Xu Qing’s consciousness felt as if it were pulled into a mysterious space, where he endlessly cultivated the Heavenly Peng Observation Method, deciphering its secrets.

[Upgrade Successful!]

[Celestial Roc Technique LV2: 56/2000 (...)]

"Haaah..."

Xu Qing opened his eyes and carefully savored the changes within himself. With a single thought, his True Qi surged, and the phantom image of an Exotic Beast, the Celestial Roc, materialized around him.

As his Martial Arts True Qi circulated, his control over the surrounding Heaven and Earth Energy became even more powerful.

"Good."

Xu Qing’s expression grew thoughtful. ’Now that the Celestial Roc Technique has leveled up from LV1 to LV2, the Sky Peng Realm I’ve comprehended has reached the peak of the First Realm.’

’A pity.’

’I couldn’t break through to the Second Realm.’ he said to himself.

HUM! HUM!

Next, Xu Qing began upgrading the Celestial Sword Technique. The same thing happened again: the Encyclopedia of All Things flickered with fluorescent light, and Xu Qing fell into another state of epiphany.

CLANG! CLANG!!!

The ring of swords echoed.

Countless streams of Sword Qi flowed around Xu Qing.

[Upgrade Successful!]

[Celestial Sword Technique LV2: 56/2000 (...)]

Similarly, after the Celestial Sword Technique was upgraded from LV1 to LV2, the five different Sword Intents he had mastered—Deceitful Sword Intent, Human Sword Intent, Divine Sword Intent, Earth Sword Intent, and Celestial Sword Intent—all rose to the peak of the First Realm.

The next moment...

BOOM!

Demonic Qi surged around Xu Qing as he began to upgrade the Devouring Demon Technique First Layer, comprehending its demonic nature and entering a strange state of epiphany.

Before long...

[Upgrade Successful!]

[Devouring Demon Technique First Layer LV6: 4000/16000 (...)]

"Haaah..."

Xu Qing took a deep breath, sensing the mighty power of the Devouring Demon Technique. He murmured softly to himself, ’Ye Langtian really is worthy of being chosen by the Devouring Demon Technique. I’m practically cheating, yet even I haven’t cultivated the Devouring Demon Technique First Layer to its peak, while Ye Langtian already has.’

’And...’

’...he’s already started trying to cultivate the Second Layer of the Devouring Demon Technique.’

HUM!

With a thought, Xu Qing retracted his Demonic Qi.

"Record."

Xu Qing took out the manual for the Second Layer of the Devouring Demon Technique that Ye Langtian had transcribed. He connected his consciousness to the Encyclopedia of All Things, which began to glow.

At the same time, the manual for the Second Layer of the Devouring Demon Technique in Xu Qing’s hand also began to shine brightly.

Then, the handwritten manual in Xu Qing’s hand seemed to gain a life of its own. The characters and diagrams on its pages appeared to animate, twisting into one small black figure after another, demonstrating the profound mysteries of the Devouring Demon Technique’s Second Layer.

Moreover, the First Layer and the Second Layer of the Devouring Demon Technique merged.

[Indexing Successful!]

[Fusion Successful!]

[Devouring Demon Technique (Two-Layer Secret Technique) LV3: 1000/4000 (The Devouring Demon Technique, containing the secret techniques of the First and Second Layers. Cultivate Devouring Demonic Qi and comprehend the Devouring Demon Intent. Can be cultivated to the peak of the Second Realm: Extraordinary.)]

"Not bad."

Xu Qing nodded in satisfaction.

「That night.」

Xu Qing met with Ye Langtian again, once more wearing the Evil Ghost mask and disguising himself as the Life-taking Elder. At this meeting, Ye Langtian’s Demonic Qi was even more powerful.

Clearly, Ye Langtian was not far from mastering the Second Layer of the Devouring Demon Technique and breaking through to the Second Realm: Extraordinary.

"Master."

Ye Langtian bowed.

"Mm."

Xu Qing nodded. "How is the investigation going?"

"Reporting to you, Master. Through the Blood Demon Sect Branch’s channels in Moon River Prefecture City, I have thoroughly investigated the events that took place at the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall over twenty years ago."

Ye Langtian said, "The Blood Demon Sect has detailed records of it."

"Go on."

Xu Qing said.

"First,"

Ye Langtian said, "Zhou Guo is not dead!"

"Not dead?!"

Xu Qing was stunned. "How can that be? I thought the Elders and Martial Artists of the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall had killed him over twenty years ago. How is he still alive?"

"He is indeed alive."

Ye Langtian continued, "The Hall Master of the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall, Zhou Bu’er, is Zhou Guo’s biological older brother. However, the two had different philosophies."

"For instance,"

"Zhou Guo advocated for ’education for all.’ He believed that as long as someone had the will to learn, they should be able to enter the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall to study Martial Arts, practice their techniques, and strengthen their bodies."

"Zhou Bu’er, of course, was disdainful. In his opinion, ordinary people of low status, with no power, no money, and even no Talent, were utterly unqualified to practice martial arts."

"Their philosophies clashed."

"Of course,"

"that wasn’t the most important issue. It was just a difference in philosophy. Zhou Guo and Zhou Bu’er were biological brothers; they naturally wouldn’t become mortal enemies over such a trivial matter."

"The real reason for the turmoil at the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall over twenty years ago was a set of ’ruins.’ Furthermore, these ’ruins’ were left behind by an expert who had surpassed the peak of the Extraordinary and entered the ’Third Realm’."

"To this day, the ’ruins’ still exist and have not been fully explored. They are even set to open again in six months."

"The Blood Demon Sect Branch’s main focus going forward will also be on exploring these ’ruins’."

"Ruins?"

Xu Qing fell into thought. "What kind of ruins? What are they called?"

"They are called the ’Reincarnation Ruins.’"

Ye Langtian continued, "Since their discovery, the ’Reincarnation Ruins’ have appeared nine times. The opening in six months will be the tenth."

"Across those nine appearances, none of the experts in Moon River Prefecture City have managed to fully explore the ’Reincarnation Ruins’."

"Mm."

Xu Qing nodded. "Continue."

"Yes."

Ye Langtian nodded again. "Twenty years ago marked the eighth opening of the Reincarnation Ruins. Both Zhou Guo and Zhou Bu’er entered, and it seems they both made some gains."

"However,"

"while inside the ’Reincarnation Ruins,’ Zhou Guo was corrupted by a ’Heart Demon.’ A Heart Demon was thus born deep within him, though it wasn’t obvious at first."

"Unfortunately,"

"Zhou Guo was unable to suppress the Heart Demon within him, allowing it to grow stronger by the day. Although Zhou Bu’er was heartbroken and found it unbearable, he couldn’t let his younger brother be completely controlled by the Heart Demon."

"But alas,"

"turmoil still erupted at the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall. Zhou Guo completely succumbed, falling to the Demon Path, which led to an extremely terrifying battle."

"In the end,"

"the result of the battle was that ’Zhou Guo’ escaped from the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall. His whereabouts remain unknown, but some say he was once spotted at the Ten Thousand Forms Demon Sect."

"After Zhou Guo escaped, Zhou Bu’er issued a kill order for all of Zhou Guo’s disciples to prevent the other disciples of the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall from also being corrupted by Heart Demons."

’So that’s what happened.’

After hearing Ye Langtian’s report, Xu Qing fell into deep thought. ’So Zhou Guo didn’t die, he just fell to the Demon Path. And Du Cangying was only an Outer Courtyard Disciple at the time, so he couldn’t have known the truth. He must have just filled in the gaps with his own assumptions.’

’I understand now.’

Xu Qing nodded.

’Even though I know the truth of what happened more than twenty years ago, I still can’t figure out what Wu Dao Ming is trying to do.’

Xu Qing wondered, ’Is he friend or foe?’

「Within a secret chamber in Dao Ming Palace, atop Dao Ming Mountain in the Dapeng Martial Arts Hall.」

HUM! HUM!

Wu Dao Ming sat cross-legged in the secret chamber as pulses of demonic light emanated from his body. In his hand, he clutched the Dapeng Order engraved with the name "Zhou Guo."

Keep in mind, Wu Dao Ming was an Extraordinary Martial Artist with a powerful cultivation. Yet now, he was teetering on the edge of losing control and succumbing to a demon, the aura of a Heart Demon beginning to emerge from him.

He was falling to the Demon Path.

First, there was the matter of his past.

Zhou Guo had indeed saved Wu Dao Ming’s life once. Wu Dao Ming had only survived thanks to him, and thus owed him a life debt.

In truth, when Zhou Guo had rescued Wu Dao Ming, he was already under the influence of his Heart Demon. During the rescue, he had implanted a "Heart Demon Seed" into Wu Dao Ming’s body.

Originally, with Zhou Guo’s escape and disappearance, this ’Heart Demon Seed’ within Wu Dao Ming’s body should never have erupted, nor should it have been catalyzed. Everything would have been fine.

Unfortunately, Xu Qing’s arrival shattered everything. He had come from Qingbei Town carrying Zhou Guo’s Dapeng Order. Wu Dao Ming, subtly influenced by the ’Heart Demon Seed’, had been drawn to the Martial Arts Hall’s entrance, where he came into contact with the token.

In that moment, Wu Dao Ming’s ’Heart Demon Seed’ was triggered and began to spin out of control. Even with his immense strength, he was still unable to suppress the ’Heart Demon Seed’ within him.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before Wu Dao Ming would, like Zhou Guo before him, completely lose control, succumb to his demon, and walk the Demon Path, becoming a terrifying Demon.

The reason for that was also simple.

The first reason was this: Wu Dao Ming’s ’Heart Demon Seed’ had been planted by Zhou Guo. Influenced by it, Wu Dao Ming wanted to find Zhou Guo by using Xu Qing.

Because of the ’Heart Demon Seed,’ Wu Dao Ming was essentially Zhou Guo’s subordinate.

The second reason was that Wu Dao Ming had not yet been completely controlled. The ’Heart Demon’s’ eruption was only just beginning, and his consciousness was still clear. Therefore, he wanted to save himself.

Therefore, Wu Dao Ming had sent Kaya to monitor Xu Qing because he wanted to know if Xu Qing had truly been sent by Zhou Guo. He also hoped to get a method from Xu Qing to suppress or even eliminate the Heart Demon.

However, Wu Dao Ming was ultimately still under the influence of the ’Heart Demon Seed,’ causing his behavior and actions to become erratic. Based on his normal personality, he never would have sent someone to merely monitor Xu Qing. He would have captured him directly and used various methods to interrogate him.

However, since Wu Dao Ming was already influenced by the ’Heart Demon,’ his mind was naturally compromised, causing him to do things that seemed incredibly foolish.

In fact, if the Heart Demon’s influence reached its final stage, he would become completely unhinged until he fully succumbed to his demon. This kind of uncontrollable descent is known as becoming a ’Mad Demon.’