1 Demonic Roots

Fallen Rooh World. During the final cycle of Kali Yuga, in the era of chaotic dawn, a gruesome battle was taking place. It was the dead of night, darkness seemed to have engulfed the world. Wind and thunder rumbled, and snake-like lightning flashed across the battlefield at times. Partway up Coiling Jade Mountain, thousands of corpses lay on the ground. It rained heavily, but it could not wash away the thick and bloody smell of this place. The once-green grass was now stained with a dark crimson shade, turning the peaceful scenery into a grotesque nightmare. A fierce battle had just ended, there were only two people left standing on the battlefield, the victor was evident. "Hahaha!" A middle-aged man laughed loudly while looking at the dark sky, his eyes were blood-red from all the killing, his expression bloodthirsty as he walked towards the other immortal on the battlefield. The other Immortal was an old man, he was heavily injured and could not battle anymore. He retreated in a hurry, but he tripped and fell into the mud. He looked pitiful like a wounded animal desperately fighting for its survival. The middle-aged Immortal slowly walked in the rain, standing in front of the old Immortal, looking down imposingly, his gaze was cold and unfeeling, there was not a hint of warmth. But meeting the middle-aged man's menacing gaze the old Immortal's gaze did not contain an ounce of fear, rather, it was filled with disbelief and rage! The old man shouted with endless grief, "Why? Wang Zheng, Why!? I am your father, I brought you up and taught you everything you know. Your accomplishments today are all because of the clan's nurturing! Why did you attack your own clansmen, why did you repay our kindness with enmity? Why!?" Meeting his father's questioning, Wang Zheng lowered his gaze, smiling lightly, "Why? Heh, does it even matter at this point.... Maybe it's because I simply can." His voice was calm and indifferent, but there was a hint of disdain lurking beneath the surface. "You..." The old man's eyes widened with disbelief, unable to comprehend the depth of his son's betrayal. Wang Zheng took a step closer, and the old Immortal shrank back in terror. But Wang Zheng's eyes glittered with a malevolent charm, drawing the old man closer unknowingly. "Besides," he continued, his voice low and dripping with cold amusement, "You're really noisy." "What?!" The old man's exclamation was filled with shock and disbelief. His eyes frantically scanned his son's face, searching for even a flicker of remorse or regret, but all he saw was coldness and contempt for his own father. The realization hit him hard. His old heart sank deeper into the abyss of despair with the cruel weight of disappointment and betrayal. "Honestly, It's always the same age-old story. My dear father, you are always going on and on about how our clan is weaker than the other party, we should endure it and suffer in silence. You keep on moaning and bitching about things like, respect the old and love the young." "Saying things like how the clan is relying on me to defend its reputation, I need to think for the clansmen and that is how I can become a brilliant clan head, and to always prioritize the clan's benefits above my own... The clan this, the clan that, the clan, the clan, the clan! Haa, It's so goddamn annoying!!" "For as long as I can remember, I have always felt incredibly annoyed. I thought I could endure it, and I kept enduring it day in and day out. And for decades I have endured this burden without complaining, not even once. But, finally.... I just couldn't anymore." Wang Zheng said as his lips curled up revealing a dark and sinister smile, as if he was relishing in the misery of his defeated father. "Just because of this?!" The old Immortal's body trembled in rage, he sat up in anger. He stared with eyes wide open as he pointed at his son and scolded furiously, "Why did you become like this? What were you actually thinking about? I must have been blind, I raised you for so many years in vain! I... I was actually about to hand the clan to you?!" The old Immortal angrily rebuked until he cried and sobbed uncontrollably. "Noisy fucker!" Wang Zheng had a ruthless expression, his father's crying made him exceedingly annoyed. Wang Zheng's right hand suddenly erupted with jade-like radiance, pulsating with horrifying aura as he raised it high above his head before slashing down with deadly force. Swoosh~! With a soft sound, the old man's head was like a watermelon that burst, brain matter, blood, his skull, and teeth were all mixed together in a pile of bloody mush. With a soft thud, the old immortal's headless corpse landed on the blood-stained ground. A generation's grand strength path expert met his end at the hands of his own son, without any sort of satisfaction whatsoever. Wang Zheng stopped moving, he became calm. Wang Zheng was clad in black clothing, standing in the rain like a ten-thousand-year-old demonic sculpture. He lowered his head, looking at the headless corpse below him, memories of the past surfaced in his mind involuntarily. When he was a young child, Wang Zheng was blessed to have a father who indulged him with simple joys of life. Together they would fly kites, visit festivals and ride horses. As he grew older, his exceptional aptitude was revealed, and his father's joy knew no bound. His father took personal charge of his training, imparting the knowledge and skills needed to handle the affairs of the clan with unmistakable attention to detail. Wang Zheng remembered vividly how his father would patiently explain the complexities of clan politics and the intricacies of managing the clan's resources. His father's guidance and mentorship had helped him become the man he was today. His father always stood by him, encouraging him to surpass his limits... A long time passed. Wang Zheng let out a breath, then he started to laugh. "Hehehe…...Hahahaha!" Soon, his laughter became louder as he raised his head, looking at the sky with his arms wide open as if he was embracing the world itself. Tears flowed out, he was filled with sorrow, but on his face, there was an expression of utter satisfaction. At this instant, an overwhelming sense of liberation washed over him. It was a euphoric feeling, the burden of the clan's expectations slipped off his shoulders like a heavy coat, leaving him feeling lighter than air. As Wang Zheng stood there, consumed by the ethereal flames of sovereignty, he knew with absolute certainty that he had finally found what he had been searching for all along. It was... Freedom! Absolute Freedom!! Wang Zheng breathed in deeply, he could smell a thick bloody stench, it assaulted him seemingly filled with the endless rage of his clansmen. But he felt that this air was goddamn fresh! "Even though I am going to die, I am not sad at all. Is this what they call freedom? Hahaha, if I had known this earlier, I would have killed them long ago. They should have been killed long beforehand, hahaha!" Wang Zheng screamed and laughed in the rain. Even when death was looming right behind him, excitement was evident on his face. Crack. A flash of lightning went by, illuminating Wang Zheng's expression of joy. The rain beat down on Wang Zheng's face as he screamed into the night, his voice filled with equal parts of madness and joy. "FREEDOM!" He cried out with all his heart, his foot planted firmly on his father's lifeless body. Suddenly! "Ugh-!" Wang Zheng's laughter came to an abrupt stop, and his face turned to a sickly shade of red before going pale. Fresh blood spewed from his mouth like a fountain, drenching the ground beneath him. He fell to his knees, his hands clawing at the earth as he convulsed violently. He had undoubtedly taken some heavy internal damage during the prior battle. "Guhhh...!" he groaned, coughing up more and more blood, along with little chunks of his own flesh. His body squirmed with such violence that it seemed as if he might tear himself apart from the inside out. It was simply an agonizing sight to behold. "Cough, cough..." Wang Zheng's pupils shimmered with a dark shine as he subconsciously clutched his chest and coughed out another mouthful of blood. "So this is it, huh?" Wang Zheng muttered softly as he bled from his orifices, but his heart remained surprisingly calm. Wang Zheng understood his situation; it was a foregone conclusion that he would meet his demise in this very place. Yet, in the face of death, his expression remained tough like cold steel, showing no signs of fear. Wang Zheng was acutely aware of the likely outcome when he made the fateful decision to slaughter his own kin, yet he still forged ahead nonetheless. He was prepared to die from the moment he took that first step down his dark path. The calmness in his heart attested to this fact. 'Life is nothing more than a gamble,' Wang Zheng thought bitterly. 'A roll of the dice, a flip of the coin. And sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you still come up short. It's truly laughable, isn't it?' A humorless chuckle escaped his lips. 'But it's fine I guess, I've given everything for this one moment of satisfaction, all these years of hard work and suffering have finally yielded a result that I longed for, I am happy, extremely happy!' he thought, a small smile forming on his lips, but his expression quickly changed. 'However, do I have any regrets? Am I truly fulfilled?' Wang Zheng's eyes dimmed down for an instant before flaring with unprecedented indignation as he roared his heart out. "No! How can I be fulfilled!?" "Regrets?? There are too many!" Wang Zheng's voice was hoarse, his eyes bloodshot as he declared, "I regret not taking more risks, not striving harder for greatness, not pushing beyond my limits. I regret not being able to see the world in all its glory, to witness the power and beauty of the heavens and earth. I regret not living up to my own expectations, and not breaking free from my own constraints sooner." His voice cracked as tears streamed down his face, a mixture of sorrow, anger, and frustration. "I.. I regret being nothing more than a speck of dust in the grand scheme of things, a mere Rank-5 immortal cultivator who can only dream of the heights others have reached. Ahhh, I regret it, I regret it all so much!" For a moment, he was lost in his own emotions, unable to contain the pain and regret that had been eating away at him. But despite his outburst, he quickly regained his composure and fell silent, his mind once again calm. Plop. He lay in a pool of blood as he blankly stared at the sky above as droplets of rain fell on his body washing away all the blood and dirt, and with every passing second Wang Zheng's eyes turned dimmer. The light in his eyes was slowly fading away, they were slowly but surely being washed away by the never-ending tides of time. Shortly after, countless human faces appeared under Wang Zheng's skin, they continued to devour him from the inside, and both his flesh and spiritual energy were quickly being devoured. Wang Zheng's left hand was devoured at a visible rate before him. After that were both of his legs. Throughout this entire time, he didn't let out a sound as he quietly gazed at the dark clouds hanging in the sky. Pitter-patter. Big and heavy raindrops continued to fall, and Wang Zheng's vision turned increasingly dark. Soon, Wang Zheng's breaths grew shallow and his consciousness began to fade, "A death without burial," he muttered with a sly chuckle, "not a bad way to go." But then a thought struck him with such force that it stole his last remaining breath. 'But a death without regrets, It's truly an unimaginable luxury.' Wang Zheng thought to himself as his eyes slowly closed. 'Maybe... just maybe in the next life.' he thought, as his consciousness completely withered away. Death had embraced him. Wang Zheng's body had been almost completely devoured, he only had his head left. But even after his death, the unrestrained smile on his face was unchanging. It was a smile of absolute freedom!

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