Chapter 238: Sponsoring The Heavenly Demon
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“So tell me, my disciple, what is this “Sponsorship” you’re talking about now?” The Heavenly Demon seemed interested. His sharp, red eyes were full of greed. “Will you truly grant me super abilities, the same that this little fellow got?”
“Kind of, yeah.” I nodded. “I already gave them to the Heavenly Empress too.”
“W-What?! You gave them to HER first?!” He gasped. “Such betrayal…”
“Hey! I met her earlier than you, and she didn’t look any better.” I sighed. “That lady is really good at pretending to be good, but she was dying… When I helped her with that sponsorship, it seemed to have helped her health a bit.”
“Hah, yeah, I know.” The Heavenly Demon snorted, talking as if he knew her really well already. “That Hue Xian loves to pretend she’s fine. She is incredibly good at wearing a mask. Because she had always led countless people, a leader like her cannot allow herself to look weak or tired, or it would lower the morale of her people, who rally for her governance every day.”
“You sure know her a lot!” I commented.
“Ah! Well, yes. As they say, know your enemy better than you know yourself, or something like that… I don’t remember.” The Heavenly Demon said. “Ahem! Anyway, will you do this or not? I don’t have all day.”
“Okay, okay.” I laughed. “You sure are impatient for being such an old gramps, master.”
“Old gramps… Hmph, I suppose that is fitting for my age.” The Heavenly Demon crossed his arms.
I noticed that Yang Shen was shocked again, opening his fox-like jaws wide open, revealing his small yet sharp canines.
“T-The Heavenly Demon is not mad at that insult?!” He gasped. “I-Incredible! Maybe young master Anna has truly tamed him!”
“Tamed?! Nobody has tamed me! I simply allow my disciple to speak more casually; she has earned such privileges. But you, Yang Shen, better watch your mouth if you don’t want me to feed your tongue to the rats.” Said the Heavenly Demon. “And your body to the dogs!”
“Eek! I’m deeply sorry for my remarks, Lord venerable!” Yang Shen bowed in front of him, kneeling and hitting the floor with his forehead.
“No need to be so mean; let him be.” I told the Heavenly Demon, sighing. “Now…”
I quickly looked at his Status.
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[Player Name]: [Han Zhenye]
[Title]: [Heavenly Demon of Black Heavens]
[Sponsor]: [None]
[Potential Innate Skills (?)]: [Black Heaven’s Domain of Purgatory (SSS)] [Venerable’s Authority (SSS)] [Black Feathers of Demonic Judgement (SSS)] [Demonic Black Crow’s Immemorial Divine Beast Bloodline Legacy (SSS)] […?]
[Overall Description]: [The Heavenly Demon of the Murim World of Bestia. Belonging to the now extinct Tribe of Red-Eyed Black Crows, he had lived a life full of struggles, suffering, and battles to the death, constantly and selfishly walking the path of a true demon between heaven and earth. After thousands of years of bloodshed, cunning schemes, betrayals, and destruction, he reached the pinnacle of this World.]
[Unlike the Heavenly Empress, the Heavenly Demon is not a benevolent leader, nor does he work to improve the lives of his subordinates. They serve him, and they work to improve his life instead. He’s selfish, lacks manners, has forbidden most of his emotions, and only sees almost everything and everyone as objects he can use to become stronger. Yet… After several events in his life, such as his clash against the Heavenly Empress and the events that transpired right after, such as the invasion of the Mechanical Beings, he has begun to change, even against his own will.]
[After having used all his strength to save the world of Bestia which he had once said he hated, he’s slowly dying because of the Nanomachines infecting his body, injected by the Mechanical Beings after his victory against their leaders, and growing greatly weakened due to his Immortal Meridians being blocked, almost completely halting his fluctuation of Inner Essence.]
[Skill Copy Conditions]: [To copy one of his Skills, help Han Zhenye ask for forgiveness from the only person who truly loved him, which he left behind because he was afraid of compromise, and what happened before that, which marked their lives and only worsened their relationship.]
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W-Woah…
This sure is an extensive description. Is it large because I’ve got to know him more? I do remember these not being so long ago. It feels like the more I interact and learn about a person, the more extensive their summaries become.
And the skill Copy Conditions are, as usual, rather harsh. Ask for forgiveness? To whom? Who would this crazy crow ever want to forgive them?
Maybe, if my theory is right, it could be her, right?
But then…
It means he regrets his decisions? Him? The Heavenly Demon? The most prideful, demonic, and vile person in this world?
I guess I’ve become quite the expert at helping villains have their redemption arcs now, so maybe it shouldn’t be so hard.
“Why are you just staring at me, disciple?” He groaned. “Are you trying to read my mind or something?”
“No, I was glancing at something.” I smiled. “Your Status Screen… your possible skills are a bit similar to hers, but at the same time, they sound much different.”
“Is that so…?” He wondered. “Perhaps because we share a Title as Venerables.”
“Maybe!” I said. “Now, allow me to demonstrate, gramps. Time to get into a big fucking debt!”
“Debt…?!”
Ding!
[You have decided to pay [Character: Han Zhenye] Growth Gift Package in ten quotes of 100.000 Plot Points!]
[Once you pay 100.000 Plot Points now, you’ll be left with a debt of 900.000 more Plot Points, which can you later pay on a quote-by-quote basis.]
[No interest for the first year!]
[You have exchanged 100.000 Plot Points. You have awakened [Character: Han Zhenye] Innate Talents and Abilities!]
[You have officially become his Sponsor! His Stats have increased greatly!]
[Character: Han Zhenye] has unlocked the following Innate Skills: [Black Heaven’s Domain Of Purgatory (SSS)] [Venerable’s Authority (SSS)] [Black Feathers Of Demonic Judgement (SSS)] [Demonic Black Crow’s Immemorial Divine Beast Bloodline Legacy (SSS)]!]
[Due to the immense and boundless talents of [Character: Han Zhenye] you cannot completely awaken all his abilities from the get-go, and he must go through intense training and Character Development to gain more abilities and stats.]
[Thanks to the large influx of Plot Points into his body, his Health has improved considerably, and the deterioration of his body has been slowed down.]
FLAAASH!
“Ooh?! W-What the- ARGH!”
The Heavenly Demon groaned in pleasure? Pain? I don’t know! But he fell to his knees and grasped his heart as if it hurt, but then calmed down. His Aura was released, encompassing everything in an endless ocean of darkness and red eyes.
And slowly, everything then went back into his body as he slowly stood back up, composing himself and calming down. He gasped a bit for air, then drank water and spoke again.
“T-That was incredible! It felt as if strange, primordial energies entered my body out of nowhere and awakened something I never thought I could!” He said. “And my body! I feel so healthy out of the blue!”
“Yep, that’s my magic sponsorship! Did you get the skills?” I asked him.
“I-I did!” He said. “I feel it! Within me, something—my bloodline?! I never had this before, but it’s there—something primordial, immemorial! I must slowly cultivate this new power! And these “attack techniques”? My wings! I can use my wings as weapons? No, the feathers! A-And wow…”
He kept talking to himself as he analyzed the composition of his very existence in great detail. However, unlike the Heavenly Empress, he didn’t lose his temper and flew out of his house to hit the giant metallic tree… not yet.
“Glad you’re feeling better! Now I have a debt of 1.800.000 Plot Points… Well, I have a year to pay them, so I think I can gather them…” I sighed. “And if not, I can still gather more; it will simply accumulate a lot of interests…”
Wait, System, can you answer this? I know you’re somewhat sentient. Can you answer this? Please just tell me there’s no time limit to paying the debt, right?
[Current Debt Time Limit: 10 Years.]
[The first year has no interests!]
[However, after the first year, the interest will increase.]
[Once ten years pass without paying the debt, the debt will be discounted off your skills, stats, items, privileges, titles, and pieces of your soul.]
O-Oh, so you take away my strength and even my soul if I don’t pay…
Gotcha.
Well, ten years is a lot of time, and I think it is doable.
I just need to please the stupid Constellations once I’m out of this world and make sure to make them all happy and clap for me.
I could scam them too, anything for more Plot Points.
In the future, I am sure…
If this world truly survives, the Heavenly Empress and the Heavenly Demon will become incredible, incomparable allies.
And for what I want to do in the future, their help will become vital.
“Amazing, the effects were even better for the venerable than mine…” Said Yang Shen.
“It is because he’s much stronger and amazing, I guess.” I shrugged. “A-Ah! I didn’t mean to say you were lame or something; Yang Shen, you have amazing potential.”
“Haha, no need to bother yourself with that; compared to the Heavenly Demon, everyone is lame!” Yang Shen laughed.
I guess that’s the common sense of this world, huh?
The Heavenly Demon took half an hour to calm down.
Afterwards, he pretended to be completely fine.
“Now, my disciple, let’s have breakfast.”
“Okay…”
After we had a bountiful meal, he didn’t ask me to fight him or something again. No, he was rather calm for some reason, as if his mind and body had been enlightened? I didn’t know how else to explain it.
“Today we shall finally, finally begin our true relationship between master and disciple, Anna.”
We were both standing on top of his dark palace. The rooftop had a small training area with wooden dummies and other tools for training martial arts.
“Yes, master. What shall we do to begin with?” I asked. “We already had a spar, and I beat you.”
“Hmph, I-I know…” He gnashed his beak in frustration. “No need to rub it! Anyway, to begin with, you must first learn the principles behind my Martial Arts.”
“Your Martial Arts! Could those be the ones I saw you use when we fought?” I asked him.
“Ah, so you were paying attention to my techniques, I see!” He smiled, caressing the feathers below his beak, which formed a small black beard. “That’s right. You must be talking about the {Seven Cursed Seals Arts}, my Magnus Opus. The end and beginning of my journey, the path I walked through my life. A life full of sin and destruction, of bloodshed and suffering.”
“A-Ah, is it a bit too extreme?” I wondered.
“Hah, the Seven Cursed Seals are a representation of the things within me that I had to seal away.” He spoke. “They don’t necessarily represent the most literal of sins. For example, I was not lazy, nor was I lustful. Such things never fit me; I was a relentless hard worker, and I never cared about fulfilling any sexual desires, nor do I care now either. I thought of people who focused on such things as pathetic; drowning in carnal desires only leads to the path of mediocrity.”
I nodded attentively.
“Although some might represent my Greed, my Wrath, my Envy, or my Pride… They are simply names, paralleling my true emotions. The ones I sealed away to gain tremendous power.” He looked at his own fists. “And that has begun leaking out once more…”
“W-Why did you seal your emotions?” I asked him. “It’s wrong to not accept yourself…”
“Would you tell the same thing to a relentless murderous psychopath like me, Anna?” He looked into my eyes. “We might have a special relationship between master and disciple now, but you must never forget the man you’re talking to. I’ve killed millions of people through my life; I’ve walked a path as red as blood.”
“Ah… Yes, I mean… I didn’t forget that.” I sighed. “I get it…”
“Be at ease now; it has been thousands of years since those times. My sins, however, are carried on my shoulders. They’re both my curse and my strength. My martial arts were created around my own path of immorality and self-destruction.” He spoke. “My teachings are nothing like those of the orthodox faction, which might suit you much better… Despite everything, I must ask you again.”
He looked me in the eyes with the most serious face I've ever seen him make.
“Are you willing to walk the path of a Demon, my disciple?”
The path of a Demon…
“As long as you don’t make me kill innocent people…”
“I won’t.”
“Then it’s fine!”
“Hah… My disciple, you’re too unserious!”
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