372: First Life

On an unknown sea surface in the Four Profound Heavens, a small fish happily popped its head out, bubbling.

As soon as it surfaced, a trace of black liquid overflowed from its eyes.

The next moment, it was swallowed by a larger fish.

After swimming for a while, it sensed danger.

Realizing something was wrong, it quickly changed direction.

Finally, it found that the water surface around it seemed to be surrounded by something.

It was a gigantic fish mouth!

Slowly closing in from all directions, this fish swallowed all the other sea creatures in the vicinity.

After finishing its meal, this larger fish gradually submerged beneath the sea.

Not long after, an enormous whale, like an island, appeared in front of it.

The large fish's body seemed as insignificant as a shrimp in front of it.

The giant whale perhaps didn't even notice it, nor did it intend to eat it.

But with just an inhaling motion, the large fish was sucked into its mouth.

Thereafter, the giant whale swam freely in the vast ocean.

But as it swam, a black spot suddenly appeared on its abdomen.

The moment the black spot appeared, it spread to the surrounding skin at an extremely fast pace.

In just a few breaths, one-third of the giant whale's body surface was stained black.

At this point, the giant whale finally sensed that something was amiss.

Alas, it was too late.

The more black liquid there was, the faster the erosion would be.

When one-third of the giant whale's body was eroded, the remaining part vanished in the blink of an eye.

After its entire body was eroded black, it began to slowly melt, transforming into the familiar, righteous black liquid.

The black liquid continuously condensed, shrinking until it became the size of a person.

That person was none other than Chen De.

He lay sprawled on the sea surface, gasping for breath.

Looking at the sun and feeling the familiar laws, Chen De already understood what had happened.

"Did I... die once?"

He tentatively muttered to himself.

Though he said it tentatively, Chen De was already certain that he had indeed died in that world.

Other than that, there was no other possibility that could have brought him back to the Four Profound Heavens.

Not only that, but in Chen De's perception, his number of resurrections had genuinely decreased by one.

All these signs indicated that he had truly died in that world.

When Chen De first obtained three lives, for safety's sake, he placed these three black liquids, which could be used for resurrection, on three different living creatures.

In a parasitic state, unless under certain special circumstances, it would not interfere with the original actions and behaviors of the living creature in the slightest.

Upon its death or being hunted, it would transfer into the predator or the nearest surrounding animal.

Furthermore, Chen De had set it so that it would influence the host not to approach places or existences that the attached black liquid could not resolve.

"I really didn't expect to lose a life in that place."

Chen De gave two carefree chuckles, as if he didn't care about this life.

"Gone is gone; there's nothing to regret."

"Being able to raise my cultivation to the Demon Emperor Realm Eighth Level this time is worth it."

Shaking his arms twice, Chen De got to his feet.

The power of a giant whale was far from enough for him; he couldn't even recover his Demon Transformation Realm strength.

Such a state was too dangerous, leaving Chen De with a great sense of insecurity.

So, the most urgent matter now was to quickly recover his strength and heal his injuries.

Chen De didn't even consider recovering by increasing his realm; that would be too difficult to achieve.

At least, the merit of saving the sentient beings of an entire world would be necessary, and it would have to be a world capable of producing Demon Emperor Realm-level beings.

Therefore, Chen De should now quickly and honestly heal through indoctrination.

Seeing the small fish and shrimp around him, he deeply understood the principle of 'do not neglect a small good deed.'

Since he saw them, he might as well indoctrinate them all.

Living under the same blue sky, Chen De felt he had to help them, no matter what.

Who among them hadn't struggled bitterly in the past? ...A month later, Chen De's cultivation recovered to the Demon Emperor Realm First Level.

Two months later, Chen De's cultivation recovered to the Demon Emperor Realm Third Level.

Three months later, Chen De's cultivation recovered to the Demon Emperor Realm Fifth Level.

By now, Chen De finally possessed a certain degree of self-preservation again.

But before he could feel proud, he recalled the Golden-Robed Man who had instantly killed him with a single sword strike.

The opponent was also at the Demon Emperor Realm Ninth Level, yet Chen De couldn't even withstand a single move.

He was killed before he could even react.

Those five guys kept mentioning something... 'Great Sovereign'?

How could there be such a vast difference when their cultivation realms were the same as those five guys?

To think that Chen De, in terms of strength, was no ordinary Demon Emperor Realm Ninth Level now.

Truly, there are always those stronger, and higher heavens beyond the sky.

With such a sigh, Chen De stuffed another giant whale, ten times larger than the first one he encountered, into his mouth.

He sadly indoctrinated while pondering the problem.

Bang!

Just then, an extremely powerful fluctuation came from the sea surface above Chen De.

Judging by its power, it would take at least a Demon Emperor Realm Third Level expert to unleash it.

Another boom!

It caused the entire sea surface to shake, including the area where Chen De was, which became a turbulent expanse.

Chen De's original intention had always been not to cause trouble, to quietly do good deeds alone.

But these guys, for their own selfish reasons, had accidentally harmed so many small fish and shrimp.

Were their lives lives, and the lives of small fish and shrimp not lives?

Unbearable, no need to endure further!

They had enraged Chen De!

Before departing, Chen De used the system map to confirm again, and indeed, there were only two Heavenly Imperial Realm Third Level cultivators fighting.

Besides that, there were only some insignificant miscellaneous soldiers.

Chen De finally reached his breaking point and burst out of the water.

He believed that anyone facing such a situation would bravely step forward, fearless of death.

A saint like him was no exception.

Instantly, as Chen De unreservedly rushed out of the water, such a large commotion immediately attracted the attention of the two still fighting.

Among the two, one's face darkened, while the other seemed to have thought of something, a hint of joy appearing on his face, and he quickly shouted at Chen De,

"Fellow Daoist, surely you are also a cultivator from a sect in the Western Xuan Domain?"

Saying that, he pointed at the other person, "This person is the Shenwu Guard Commander of the Shenwu Empire in our Western Xuan Domain."

"I'm sure fellow Daoist knows what kind of people the Shenwu Guard are—a bunch of loyal dogs of the Divine Martial Emperor."

Ever since the Divine Martial Emperor ascended the throne, he had frequently made big moves, leading to constant friction with the domestic sects.

First, he tested the sects' bottom line with the Shenwu Academy matter; although he eventually conceded, the sects still suffered overall.

For sect forces outside the empire, he mainly employed infiltration tactics.

For example, a certain sect's true disciple, or a certain sect's next sect leader successor, would accidentally be discovered to be a Shenwu Guard undercover agent.

There was also a certain family's young master who had died long ago, merely replaced by the Shenwu Guard using a special secret technique.

Of course, while there were many undercover agents planted in sects outside the empire, there were even more within the empire.