Redemption of a Born Demon

Chapter 360 - 262: An Old Acquaintance Reappears, Devouring Flesh and Blood to Gain Demon Nature (Part 1)

Lotus gestured lightly with his hand. The Golden Lotus detached from its stem, spun in the air, and shrank continuously until it landed in his palm.

With a flick of his wrist, he sent the Golden Lotus shooting toward the old monk, who caught it in his hands.

"Go. With this Golden Lotus, you can wield the Celestial Demon Power to its fullest without restraint."

Lotus said faintly.

"Thank you for your aid, Master."

The old monk pressed his palms together, and the Golden Lotus within them vanished without a trace. The Lotus Platform beneath him closed, swallowing his form and disappearing.

Watching the old monk disappear, a smile touched the corners of Lotus’s lips.

"Now, let’s see if the move you’ve made will be devoured by mine," Lotus murmured to himself.

「A short time later.」

Yi Beidou was advancing rapidly, heading for the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, his brow furrowed. Sensing something, he stopped dead in his tracks and looked toward a specific direction to his front right.

He could faintly see crimson threads coiling around his body, and a strange sense of familiarity arose within his perception.

The feeling was quite bizarre. If he had to use a real-world analogy, it was like standing before a funhouse mirror.

’Interesting. It seems they’re intentionally letting me sense them. How can they pinpoint my location?’

’I’ll have to see who I’m dealing with.’

Yi Beidou’s eyes narrowed. With a tap of his foot, he shot off, sprinting wildly in the direction his senses guided him.

「The Holy City, Jerusalem.」

This was a city with a turbulent destiny, steeped in a powerful religious atmosphere. Three major religions considered it a holy land, and it had been baptized by countless wars throughout history.

Desolate, ancient city walls stood tall. The streets bustled with people, filled with tourists who had come from all over the world, drawn by its fame.

Outside the Holy Sepulchre Church, at the last of the Fourteen Stations of the Cross.

A Donghua tour group, led by their guide, arrived and stood before the quaint yet magnificently decorated church.

"Before us now is the final Station of the Cross. Legend says this is where Jesus met his end and was buried in the Holy Sepulchre, which is why this has become a pilgrimage site for Christians all over the world..."

The guide, a Donghua native, was introducing the landmark to the many tourists in the group in the fluent Donghua Language.

The tour group was a mix of retired elderly couples enjoying their golden years and wealthy young people with the time and money to see the world.

"I heard this is where Jesus was crucified. Do you guys think he really resurrected afterward?" a stylish girl in sunglasses whispered to her companion.

"No way, right? That’s just a religious legend. No one can actually come back to life after dying. That’s completely unscientific," another girl with pigtails replied in a low voice. They were speaking the Donghua Language, so there was no risk of offending anyone else.

"I didn’t use to believe it either, but now, who knows? After all, we’ve seen people achieve Body Ascension and withstand bullets with their bare bodies. What’s science got to do with it? I wouldn’t even be surprised if that Mr. Yi could be reborn," another boy with a slicked-back hairstyle chimed in.

"Let’s go inside and pray a few extra times later. Maybe we’ll have a fortuitous encounter and get Jesus to teach us secret Martial Arts Dao techniques in a dream?" another tall boy said with a chuckle.

"You’ve been reading too many novels, haven’t you? Dream on. I heard a lot of Saint Realm masters have been gathering in the Mediterranean Region lately. It’s more likely one of them will pass by, see your ’astonishing bone structure,’ decide to teach you some peerless secret technique, and entrust you with the task of maintaining world peace. That’s way more plausible than Jesus’s spirit showing up to pass on his skills," the girl in sunglasses teased with a smile.

"I’ve seen this episode before. The passing Saint Realm master demands a ten-dollar fee before he’ll teach you, right?" the boy with the slicked-back hair laughed heartily.

"It’s not impossible. Maybe the next moment, Mr. Yi himself will appear before me, begging me to be his disciple and teach me some peerless martial art," the tall boy said with a shrug, not at all annoyed by his friends’ teasing.

"In that case, you have to get me an autograph. Thanks," the girl with pigtails said, winking playfully.

’If she could get Yi Beidou’s autograph, couldn’t she strut around Donghua like she owned the place?’

’Is that just an autograph? It’s practically a Protective Talisman.’

"Easy, easy. I’ll get you ten of them. But you have to treat me to dinner tonight first," the tall boy said shamelessly.

"Trying to get something for nothing..." The pigtail girl’s eyes widened.

But before she could finish her sentence...

"AHH!!"

A sudden, violent commotion and cries of alarm erupted in front of the Holy Sepulchre Church. Even the guide’s introduction stopped as everyone’s gaze snapped to one spot.

FWOOM!!

A mass of fiercely burning, blue-white flames appeared out of thin air, warping the space around it as it emerged from the Void.

A tall figure stepped out of the blue-white flames, materializing before everyone.

"Yi... Yi... Yi... Yi... Yi..."

The pigtail girl’s eyes were wide as saucers. She pointed at the figure, known by everyone in Donghua, unable to form a complete word.

The girl in sunglasses whipped off her shades. Her crescent-shaped eyes widened into full moons, her mouth hung slightly open as she stared in disbelief at the figure who had appeared from nowhere.

As for the tall boy, he was frozen to the spot. His scalp tingled, and his whole body felt as if it had been zapped by electricity.

’Th-th-this... Did my mouth get blessed or something?!!’

’Don’t tell me he’s actually here to take me as his disciple?!’

But obviously, this was all just a coincidence. There was no way Yi Beidou had come for him.

"I’m here. Are you going to show yourself?" Yi Beidou said faintly, but his voice boomed out, making everyone’s scalp tingle.

"Heh heh. Master Yi, just as I predicted, you’ve walked right into my trap."

A voice drifted out from within the Holy Sepulchre Church. At some unknown point, an old, bald monk in simple monastic robes had appeared before the crowd.

His eyes were downcast, and he appeared kind and benevolent. Though his eyebrows were white with age, his skin was as smooth and firm as a baby’s.

"Master Yi, we meet again."

The old monk placed his palms together and gave a slight bow to Yi Beidou.

Upon seeing this man, Yi Beidou’s pupils contracted slightly, a trace of surprise in his eyes.

This was an old acquaintance.

Last year, just after he had emerged into the world, he was attacked by five Super Warriors in Spring City. Immediately after, he traveled to Northern Myanmar and wiped out a branch of the Pioneer Group. It was on his way back that he was ambushed in a perilous encounter.

His attacker was none other than the old monk before him.

A legendary figure from Nanyang, the lord of the Great Bao Lian Temple, the Great Vow Master!

Of all the opponents he had fought in a life-or-death battle, few had survived. This man was the exception!

Furthermore, after that battle, Yi Beidou’s strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, and his Celestial Demon Sensing had grown stronger, yet he had never once detected this man’s presence. It was as if he had vanished from the face of the earth, so much so that Yi Beidou had gradually begun to forget him.

He never expected to run into him again here, in the Mediterranean Region.

Moreover, his aura seemed to have undergone a world-shaking transformation. It was a fundamental change; while his appearance was the same, his magnetic field and aura were those of a completely different person. No wonder Yi Beidou’s enhanced Celestial Demon Sensing had failed to detect him.

"I didn’t expect it to be you."

After a brief moment of surprise, Yi Beidou’s expression returned to its usual calm.

"No, it is not I alone," the Great Vow Master said with a smile.

As his words fell.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Around the church, terrifying auras erupted one after another, soaring into the sky like pillars of wolf smoke.

One, two, three, four, five...

Including the Great Vow Master standing before Yi Beidou, a total of six powerful experts had appeared!

Under the influence of their magnetic fields, the tourists present felt a primal fear and began to tremble. Someone screamed and scrambled to flee.

Even the girl in sunglasses and her friends realized something was wrong and hurriedly turned to get away.

The Saint Realm was no longer a secret, and they were well aware of the terrifying destructive power such figures possessed.

If a fight broke out, they were so close that the aftershocks alone would be enough to kill them.

"This is a place where a sage fell. You may be a Free Celestial Demon, but you are on par with a sage. This place will make a fitting grave for you," the Great Vow Master said in a low voice.