The Demon Lord of All Forms

Chapter 6 Experiment

No one noticed the unusual situation in Jiangdu City.

Because Wang Zhiyuan was still Wang Zhiyuan, he worked in the government office every morning, went to a teahouse in the east of the city to listen to storytelling in the afternoon, and returned to his residence in the evening.

Zhou Meng was still Zhou Meng; he went to the military camp once every five days and spent the rest of his time drinking at his residence.

Chen Wanguan was still Chen Wanguan. He ran a pawnshop and a grain shop, and went to the City God Temple to burn incense on the first and fifteenth of each month.

However, some of their decisions began to differ.

For example, Chen Wanguan suddenly began to frequently host banquets for wealthy merchants in the city, and at each banquet he would introduce a Mr. Su who came from out of town.

For example, Wang Zhiyuan suddenly stopped paying attention to the abandoned old houses in the east of the city and allowed a merchant from Lin'an to move in.

For example, Zhou Meng suddenly replaced several minor leaders of the city gate guards with some unfamiliar faces.

A month later, all the wealthy merchants, shopkeepers, and workshop owners in Jiangdu City were Su Qinghe.

Two months later, all the officials, yamen runners, and clerks in Jiangdu City were under the command of Su Qinghe.

Three months later, all two thousand troops stationed in Jiangdu City were under the command of Su Qinghe.

No one resisted, no one doubted, and no one even felt that something was wrong, because everyone was still themselves. They remembered their names, their families, and their past. They ate, slept, did business, worked, and patrolled as usual. But behind every decision and at every crossroads, there was a common will gently guiding their direction.

Like a big tree, its roots spread quietly deep underground, while the branches and leaves on the ground still sway in the wind, showing no signs of change.

Su Qinghe sat in the main hall of an abandoned house in the east of the city, with an oil lamp lit in front of him.

Three months ago, this place was a wasteland, but now it has been cleaned up and is now clean and tidy. More than a dozen incarnations live in the side halls and wing rooms, while he is the only one in the main hall.

With his eyes closed, Su Qinghe's consciousness sank into the Rebirth Wheel. The number of light spots on it was still 100,000. Su Qinghe did not devour the souls of mortals in Jiangdu City. These souls were all returned to the bodies of mortals in Jiangdu City. Su Qinghe needed more of himself to test the cultivation method.

Jiangdu City has 300,000 people, and adding Lin'an City's 100,000 people makes a total of 400,000, which should be enough.

Su Qinghe opened his eyes, and a slow smile curved his lips.

Time to get down to business.

Su Qinghe unfolded the "Heavenly Ghost Underworld God Demon Codex" and the "Thousand Star Map" in his consciousness and began to assign tasks.

He first transferred 30,000 men from Lin'an City.

These 30,000 people were originally farmers and hunters outside Lin'an City. They were strong and healthy, and best suited for physical labor. In Su Qinghe's view, cultivation was essentially a kind of physical labor as well. It was nothing more than drawing qi into the body, opening up the meridians, strengthening the physical body, and condensing the Dao embryo. Each step required a lot of trial and error.

Thirty thousand people, each trying a different path, one person walks this meridian, another walks that meridian; one person cultivates at this time, another cultivates at that time; one person guides Qi in this way, another guides Qi in that way.

With 30,000 variables and 30,000 experiments, there's bound to be one that works.

The first task Su Qinghe assigned to these 30,000 people was to cultivate the first level of the "Heavenly Ghost Underworld God Demon Scripture".

The core of this technique is absorbing death energy, which is the aura born when a living being dies. Both humans and animals possess it, but humans have a stronger death energy because their souls are more powerful.

Outside Lin'an City, there is a desolate mountain of graves. It was originally a mass grave in the city. During Su Qinghe's control of Lin'an City, he killed many people and dumped their bodies there. In addition to those who died of natural causes over the years, there are at least tens of thousands of corpses piled up on the mountain, which is filled with a deathly aura.

Su Qinghe sent 30,000 people to the Desolate Tomb Mountain in batches of 1,000 each. They sat down at the foot of the mountain and absorbed death energy according to the method recorded in the first layer of the "Heavenly Ghost and Netherworld God Demon Scripture".

Of the first thousand people who sat down, not a single one succeeded.

It's either that the death energy wasn't inhaled, or that it was inhaled but the meridians were misdirected, causing the blood and qi to flow in reverse, resulting in vomiting blood.

Thirteen people died on the spot. Su Qinghe frowned and ordered his men to drag the bodies away and bury them on the desolate hill. Anyway, tens of thousands of people had already been buried here, so a few more wouldn't make a difference.

The second batch of one thousand people took a different meridian pathway.

No one died suddenly this time, but no one succeeded either. The death energy was inhaled, circulated in the meridians, and then dissipated, like scooping water with a broken bowl—the water came in, but then leaked out through the cracks.

The third batch, the fourth batch, the fifth batch...

Su Qinghe wasn't in a hurry; 30,000 people would be enough for him to try for a long time.

At the same time, Su Qinghe had another group of avatars begin testing the "Thousand Star Map".

This technique is completely different from the "Heavenly Ghost and Netherworld God Demon Scripture". It does not require death energy or a special cultivation environment. You only need to look up at the sky at night and use your mind to guide the power of the stars into your body.

Su Qinghe selected ten avatars and had them stand in the courtyard, looking up at the starry sky, and draw upon the power of the stars according to the method recorded in the first layer of the "Thousand Stars Map".

The first incarnation sat for a whole night without feeling anything.

The second incarnation sensed something, but couldn't grasp it.

The third incarnation was captured, but the moment the star power entered his body, he convulsed, foamed at the mouth, and almost died.

The fourth, the fifth, the sixth...

Su Qinghe wasn't in a hurry. If ten people weren't enough, he'd have a hundred; if a hundred weren't enough, he'd have a thousand. He currently had 100,000 men, and once he took Jiangdu City, he'd have another 300,000. He had plenty of people to try.

One person succeeded in being one of the first to try the incarnation of the "Thousand Stars Chart".

This man was named Wang Er. He was originally a night watchman in Lin'an City, nothing special. But on the third night, he successfully guided a wisp of starlight into the depths of his consciousness and stored it there.

Su Qinghe sensed this wisp of star power through Wang Er's body. It was icy and clear, carrying an aura that did not belong to the human world, like a drop of ice water falling into boiling oil, exploding in his consciousness.

Su Qinghe was startled.

This is stellar power, also spiritual power, which acts directly on the soul, without needing meridians, the dantian (energy center), or even the physical body.

If Wang Er succeeds, then let the rest of the people follow Wang Er's path. If a thousand people follow the same path and everyone succeeds, then that path is the right one.

A month later, the path of the "Thousand Star Chart" was verified, with a success rate of around 30% and a mortality rate of less than 1%. Su Qinghe then had all the avatars in Lin'an City begin cultivating the "Thousand Star Chart," with 100,000 people simultaneously drawing upon star power.

Ten thousand strands of power, as fine as hair, descended from the sky, like a silent rain, falling upon the ten thousand incarnations.

The starlight, cool and clear, slowly seeps into the depths of the consciousness of the evolved being, tempering each soul.