Beijing Palace
Tao Yu Xin meditated at the center of a lavishly decorated hall, adorned with gold and enchanted gemstones blessed by Taoist masters. Beside him, his slave remained kneeling, motionless. The Emperor was deep in thought. Having cultivated his Blood Infant and reached the second stage, he no longer felt any human needs—neither hunger, nor thirst, nor sleep.
In a hoarse, ethereal voice, he broke the silence:
— Slave… Have you reached the Core Formation stage?
The nurse lowered her eyes and shook her head. Tao slowly approached her, placing his hands on her cheeks in a gesture that was almost tender, yet his gaze remained devoid of emotion.
Suddenly, a loud creaking noise shattered the silence. The hall's grand door opened slowly, revealing an elegant figure: a supernatural nine-tailed Japanese woman, followed by a divine samurai towering over three meters tall.
— Hachiman… I don't want to marry this man… the Empress murmured, her voice trembling.
The great samurai did not flinch, his overwhelming presence filling the room with suffocating pressure.
— Empress, did I give you permission to choose? he replied coldly, his tone implacable.
With a single step, Tao Yu Xin appeared mere inches from Megami No Me. Before she could recoil, his hand sliced through the air.
SLAP!
The Empress collapsed to the ground from the force of the blow, her cheeks reddened by the impact. Silent tears rolled down her face.
— Since when do mere servants dare to speak? Tao murmured icily, his gaze filled with disdain.
He turned to Hachiman, utterly indifferent to the young woman's pain.
— Hachiman, do you remember our contract?
— Yes, Master Tao, the divine warrior responded, his voice devoid of emotion.
Still kneeling, Megami clenched her fists, her voice shaking with anger and fear:
— Hachiman… Please… What you're doing is inhuman! You asked me to sacrifice 10,000 metahumans… Why?!
She lifted eyes burning with rage toward Tao.
— Why so many lives?!
— For your cultivation, you said… But you have no humanity!
Her voice broke into a sob. Tao struck her again, even harder.
— Silence, woman.
His voice was cold, unyielding. He looked down at her the way a king would regard an insect.
— You cannot comprehend the vastness of the Gu and the sacrifices it demands.
There was no cruelty in his tone, no sadistic pleasure—only an immutable truth.
— This lower world has become meaningless to me. No desire, no attachment… Only immortality and invincibility matter. No matter the cost.
Behind a small wall, a Chinese assassin silently observed the scene. Since Tao Yu Xin had cultivated Dark Qi and merged with the cosmic parasite that was the Gu, something in him had changed.
He no longer resembled a high school student. He had the aura of a 500-year-old demon.
Megami gritted her teeth, her eyes brimming with tears and disgust.
— This is monstrous… You're willing to sacrifice everything for immortality? Even children? Even the innocent?!
Tao didn't even blink.
— By absorbing the memories and wisdom of Zhao Wunjin, I've realized one thing:
He paused.
— Moral laws are a useless poison.
Megami shuddered with fear.
— I am willing to kill. To crush. To exterminate.
He took a step forward, his shadow stretching over Megami's trembling figure.
— To rewrite reality, to destroy entire dimensions…
He crouched before her, his voice lowering to an almost intimate whisper.
— If it brings me closer to Dao.
Megami stared at him, speechless, unable to respond.
— This is… horrifying… she breathed, her voice barely audible.
Tao Yu Xin seized her long silver hair and lifted her forcibly, holding her face to his.
— You, woman…
His gaze was empty.
— You are nothing but a tool.
He placed his ice-cold hand on Megami's forehead.
— And I will use you.
A dark light burst from his palm, invading the Empress's mind. Her eyes widened as her memories twisted, shattered, and rewrote themselves under the influence of Tao Yu Xin's forbidden mental arts.
Megami felt her heart slow. Her consciousness… drifting.
Then, she saw it.
An angel.
A being of divine beauty, ethereal and absolute.
Her heart exploded with love and devotion.
— Good… she murmured, an entranced smile on her lips.
— We will deliver the entire Koga clan to you… and all the isolated mutants.