In a tranquil valley, where one would expect birdsong and fragrant flowers, the ground was now strewn with bones.
Most of these were the skeletons of demons.
In a crevice among the rocks in a corner of the valley, two newly transformed mantis demons shivered, their faces filled with terror as they peered through the gap at the massive corpse in the valley.
It was a black mantis, over ten zhang in size.
Now, it lay with its head severed. A lion-headed, human-bodied demon extracted a demon core from the mantis’s corpse, a cruel smile on its face.
“Finally, we took down this demon mantis. To think, with just a trace of the ancient demon mantis’s diluted bloodline, it was so troublesome. Five of us brothers attacked together, and this thing still managed to kill three of us!”
Beside the lion demon, a bear demon sneered, holding three demon cores in its hand, grinning viciously, “But we avenged them, took back their cores, and I had a good meal. Their deaths weren’t in vain.”
“Let’s go. We’re not far from the Phoenix Cry Mountain demon territory. Now that we’ve massacred this place, if we attract those demon ancestors from Phoenix Cry Mountain, it’ll be trouble!”
The lion demon spoke gravely, swallowing the mantis demon’s corpse in one gulp before soaring into the sky with the bear demon, disappearing into the clouds.
The two small mantis demons in the crevice, witnessing this, were scared pale, unable to recover for a long time.
In the days that followed, driven by unbearable hunger, the two demons crawled out from their hiding place and instinctively began gnawing on the partially decayed demon corpses littering the ground.
After consuming an unknown number of corpses, the male mantis demon with a handsome face suddenly screamed. His body began to change, his upper half gradually transforming into a spiritual body…
Time passed, years or perhaps decades slipping by.
The two mantis demons had long since reached the Demon Soldier realm, though they themselves were unclear on how they cultivated, or even what cultivation was.
Over the years, their main activity was venturing out to find food, occasionally drawn to the scent of spiritual fruits. In this way, they gradually grew stronger.
On this day, the two scantily clad mantis demons went out to search for food as usual. By now, they had fully manifested their spiritual bodies.
As for why their bodies had undergone such changes, they didn’t know or care much, only focusing on finding food daily, eating their fill, and returning to their valley cave to huddle together for warmth.
Perhaps due to their frequent foraging, the food supply in the area had been nearly exhausted. With no other choice, the two demons decided to leave the region and venture into unexplored mountains to search for food.
However, just as they stepped out of their territory, they were drawn by the sound of enchanting zither music.
Instinctively, the two demons followed the sound and soon arrived at a secluded mountain. There, beside a thatched hut, a woman in white was plucking zither strings.
The two demons stared, transfixed, their gazes mostly fixed on the woman in white, their eyes filled with curiosity, apprehension, and fear of an unfamiliar face.
When the melody ended, the woman in white looked at the two demons and smiled, “My name is Ink Lady. What are your names?”
The two demons exchanged a glance but remained silent.
“I forgot, you likely have little contact with the outside world, so despite reaching the Demon Soldier realm, you probably know nothing.”
Ink Lady chuckled, shaking her head, then continued, “You needn’t worry. I was an acquaintance of your mother, so I won’t harm you.
Since I find you two pitiful, you can follow me from now on!”
“Is there… food?” the handsome male mantis demon asked with difficulty, his voice somewhat hoarse.
“Of course, follow me, and you’ll have plenty of blood food!”
Ink Lady smiled, then said to the two demons, “I’ll give you names!”
“I like naming things after colours. What colours do you like?”
Seeing the two demons struggle to understand, Ink Lady frowned slightly, then pointed to her robe and smiled, “Like this colour. This is white.”
“I like your colour!” the male mantis demon said.
The female mantis demon pointed to Ink Lady’s hair, saying, “I like its colour, it’s similar to that.”
“Very well!”
“Then from now on, you’ll be called White Robe, and you… Black Robe!”
Thus, White Robe and Black Robe settled on the mountain, learning various knowledge under Ink Lady’s guidance, gradually discovering that she was a spider demon.
“Why do you always stare at us?”
One day, White Robe stepped outside, frowning at Ink Lady.
By now, he was no longer naive. Under Ink Lady’s teachings, he quickly became astute, even able to draw inferences.
“Because I need to watch over you, to protect you,” Ink Lady said with a smile, adding, “From now on, address me as Master before asking questions.”
“You’re lying. Your gaze isn’t like what you claim. I’ve seen it in the eyes of ferocious beasts!” White Robe said gravely.
Ink Lady fell silent briefly, then smiled, “White Robe, you’re too clever. You should know clever demons don’t live long.”
“So you weren’t our mother’s acquaintance. From the moment our mother died, you had your eyes on us siblings, and the food that appeared from time to time was deliberately left by you?
Just to keep us from starving?” White Robe asked, frowning.
“You truly surprise me, but you’re wrong about one thing. I didn’t just want to keep you from starving, I was conducting a test,” Ink Lady said, her eyes narrowing.
“Testing what?” White Robe looked at her.
“Testing your constitutions!”
Ink Lady grinned, then continued, “It’s said that the bloodline of the ancient demon mantis has a chance of bloodline regression. If there’s even a slight possibility, the descendants with regressed bloodlines can possess the Demon-Devouring Spirit Body.
Of course, that’s the human term. In our demon race, it’s called the Demon Mantis Spirit Body!
This constitution is terrifying. It’s said that by continuously consuming demon flesh, one can endlessly strengthen their body!
I happen to have a divine ability to seize special constitutions, so I thought I’d test it on you two pitiful creatures.”
“By eating someone with a special constitution, I can gain their constitution!”
Hearing Ink Lady’s unabashed intentions, White Robe couldn’t help but clench his fists.
“Guess what?”
Ink Lady’s lips curled slightly, a hint of madness in her eyes as she laughed, “My test succeeded!
You two frail mantis demons actually grew stronger by eating the flesh of those lesser demons!”
“So you’re planning to eat us next?” White Robe asked through gritted teeth.
“Of course, but not now, because your cultivation isn’t strong enough yet. I need you to reach the Demon General realm.
Also, I need you to keep eating, to fully awaken the potential of the Demon-Devouring Spirit Body.
Because legend has it that the Demon-Devouring Spirit Body can evolve further into a more powerful divine body, called the First Generation, comparable to or even surpassing a Holy Son!”
Ink Lady spoke as if it were only natural, unconcerned about the siblings escaping, as two mere Demon Soldiers fleeing from a demon king like her was nothing short of a pipe dream.
“So that’s how it is… You want us to reach Demon General because of a flaw in your divine ability?”
White Robe gave a bitter smile, took a deep breath, looked at Ink Lady, and said gravely, “You only need to seize one Demon-Devouring Spirit Body, and my physique is stronger than Black Robe’s, so you just need to eat me, right?”
“You could say that,” Ink Lady nodded.
“Then I can agree to that, but I hope you’ll spare Black Robe. She’s unnecessary to you!”
“If you obediently follow my instructions, I naturally won’t harm her.”
“Honestly, having raised you for so many years, I’ve truly come to see you as my own children. If it weren’t for my cultivation, how could I bear to harm you?”
“Can you teach me to play the zither? You said before you learned it from a human. What kind of person was he? Where did he go?”
“He was a remarkable human cultivator, venturing alone into the Hundred Thousand Mountains to slay demons. Unfortunately, he was no match for a great demon, was gravely injured, and fled, only to fall into my hands.
Like you, I was captivated by his music, so I didn’t kill him. I wanted him to be my husband.
To survive, he taught me the way of music, told me many things about humans, even tried to change my mindset with grand principles, but he would rather die than be my husband.
So, in the end, I killed him.
No, strictly speaking, I ate him!
Listening to his pained screams, eating him bit by bit, that sensation was truly unforgettable!”
“…Let’s just play the zither.”
