Qin Hao looked at his father, whose expression shifted between gentle and menacing, muttering to himself, filling the boy with an inexplicable fear.
“Daddy, Hao’er is scared…”
“Hao’er, don’t be afraid. You must live bravely from now on!”
“Henceforth, your name will be ‘Changsheng’!”
“The things your mum and I couldn’t achieve in this life, we’re betting on you to accomplish…”
“If possible, please become a direct disciple of the academy in the future, to fulfil the last regret in your dad’s heart!”
As Qin Yun spoke, he led little Hao’er by the hand deeper into the hall. After deeply bowing several times to the walls lined with spirit tablets, he formed hand seals and silently chanted a spell.
Buzz—
The ground soon glowed with blood-red array patterns, forming an enormous, intricate design.
At the centre of the pattern was a visible crack, from which strands of blood-red energy drifted out.
“Now!”
A surge of intense joy appeared on Qin Yun’s indifferent face. He reached out, and strands of the same substance as those drifting from the crack flew towards it.
“This saint can finally break this damned seal completely. Mount Daoxuan, it’s time to settle old grudges!”
As “Qin Yun” spoke, the so-called seal shattered, revealing a dark abyss below!
Boom!
An indescribable, terrifying aura surged skyward.
“What are you waiting for?!”
Qin Yun muttered, as if urging someone.
“Dad?”
Qin Hao looked back at his father. Too young to comprehend what was happening, he only felt a chilling sensation, as if something ominous was watching him.
“Changsheng, live well, carrying the hopes of your dad and mum!”
Tears welled in Qin Yun’s eyes. Then, he pushed Qin Hao forward!
The next moment, Qin Hao fell into the abyss, his small body engulfed by endless blood-red darkness.
Soon after, a blood-red light shot out from the abyss, transforming into a massive blood dragon, which let out a low roar at Qin Yun.
“How’s my son?” Qin Yun asked gravely.
“Rest assured, this saint always keeps his word. I’ve planted the Witch Demon Immortality Curse in him and granted the little one a drop of my essence blood. Even if his body is destroyed, he won’t die easily!
When he awakens, he’ll be like me. With a single opportunity, he can fully become a witch demon, immortal and indestructible!”
The blood dragon spoke in a human voice, then looked at Qin Yun, saying, “Now it’s your turn to keep your promise!”
“Come!”
Qin Yun took a deep breath, slowly closed his eyes, and spread his arms, as if fully surrendering.
“Roar!!”
The blood dragon roared, then flew into Qin Yun’s chest until all the blood-red light vanished.
When Qin Yun opened his eyes again, they were filled with a bloodthirsty aura. He laughed wildly.
“Hahahahaha…”
“Mount Daoxuan’s bastards, back then you slew me beneath Hidden Dragon Abyss. To prevent my revival, you had Great River Academy use the entire Southern Border’s human fate and righteous energy to seal the abyss.
Now, this saint has finally revived!
Hahahahaha…!!”
“Hmm?”
“No… something’s wrong… what’s this…??”
Suddenly, the laughing witch demon froze, his face filled with terror. He noticed countless words inexplicably appearing within his body, not just inside but also surfacing on his skin.
This gave the witch demon a bad feeling.
“Senior Witch Demon, congratulations on falling into the trap!”
A calm voice sounded as a figure stepped in from outside the hall—it was the dean of Great River Academy!
But now, his hair was entirely white, as if he had aged decades in an instant.
“It’s you?!”
“Old thing, what have you done?!”
The witch demon roared, though his appearance was still Qin Yun’s, causing the dean to look pained.
“Nothing much, just turned you from a chess player into a pawn on the board.”
“Qin Yun’s body has long been inscribed with the Great Sun Demon-Expelling Scripture. Driven by his current Core Formation power, combined with the Southern Border’s human fate and the righteous energy of the world’s scholars, it can completely eradicate your lingering witch demon consciousness!
To eliminate you, Great River Academy has planned for countless years, even using my two precious disciples as bait.
You can die now!”
“Hahahaha… you couldn’t do it back then, let alone now?!”
The witch demon roared, full of disdain.
“The Southern Border now is not the Southern Border of old, and you, great serpent, are not the Witch Saint of old!
Killing you is enough!”
The dean’s face turned stern. He stomped his right foot, and the world transformed into a massive chessboard…
When Qin Hao awoke, he found himself lying in the centre of the hall, with a kindly old man before him.
“You’re awake?”
“Where is this?”
“This is Great River Academy!”
The white-haired old man looked at Qin Hao, curiously asking, “Do you still remember who you are?”
“I… I’m Qin… Changsheng?”
Qin Hao muttered, somewhat uncertain.
“Changsheng… that’s your name. Come, follow me out of here. From now on, you’re a disciple of my academy!”
“Who are you?”
“You can call me Dean!”
…
Memories flooded into Qin Changsheng’s mind…
“You damned thing, it’s you?!”
Venomous Fang roared, his head splitting with pain, finally sensing something. He detected a familiar aura emerging within him.
This aura had once filled him with anger and hatred.
At that moment, Venomous Fang’s body changed. A massive tumour sprouted from his neck, gradually forming facial features until it became Qin Changsheng’s face.
“Venomous Fang, your mission is complete. So… you’re my opportunity!”
Qin Changsheng spoke calmly, a trace of realisation in his eyes.
“You damned thing, what nonsense are you spouting?!”
“I’m Venomous Fang! I swallowed you long ago, so why are you still alive?!”
“No matter, this time I’ll crush you completely!
I’ll strip everything from you!”
Venomous Fang roared repeatedly, his head transforming into a massive, ferocious python head, lunging to bite Qin Changsheng’s head.
“Pitiful creature, haven’t you realised?”
“Your existence was merely to unlock the shackles within me. If you hadn’t triggered the witch demon blood in my body by chance, do you think you could have revived?”
Qin Changsheng sneered, his head exploding, causing Venomous Fang to bite air while screaming in agony.
“Damn bastard!”
“Get out of my body!!”
Venomous Fang roared, his demonic energy surging to expel Qin Changsheng, but it was futile. Instead, he felt an overwhelmingly terrifying aura of death approaching.
“Your divine abilities truly surprised me—three of them, no less!”
“Hmm? Even the bloodline of the ancient Calamity Serpent?”
“Though the Substitution ability is somewhat useless, it helped me greatly. It turns out the Beast Control Blood Curse didn’t vanish but was transferred early by your Substitution ability.
Excellent!
You can now vanish from this world completely!”
Qin Changsheng’s voice rang in Venomous Fang’s ears. Then, a terrifying force erupted from the blood-red scale on his forehead.
In an instant, Venomous Fang lost all sensation, his body collapsing stiffly to the ground.
Moments later, his tightly shut eyes suddenly opened!
“Qin… has returned!!”
