Hearing Lucas's words, Shenhe's body began to tremble slightly.
Because he wasn't wrong. Although her earlier slaughter had been driven by her berserk nature, beneath the guilt and unease, she couldn't deny that she had felt an unparalleled sense of exhilaration while killing those vile scoundrels.
Seeing the cracks in her mental defenses, Lucas continued to sow his influence. "If cruelty and savagery are your nature, why suppress it? The Solitary Star and Disastrous Evil Fate is not a curse—it's a gift. Why not embrace it and turn it into your strength?"
These words deeply shook Shenhe.
All her life, she had blamed the tragedies she suffered on her cursed fate, loathing it completely.
But Lucas was the first person who encouraged her to accept herself.
"What… should I do?" Shenhe muttered.
"The path of humanity is narrow and hopeless," Lucas said, tilting his head to expose his pale neck. Smiling, he whispered, "Drink my blood. Join me on the demonic path, free from all restrictions, bound by nothing."
Free from all restrictions, bound by nothing.
Shenhe's heart surged with emotion. Before she realized it, her teeth had sunk into Lucas's neck, and the taste of blood flooded her senses.
As the child of Gluttony, Lucas's blood carried immense, ferocious power. For an ordinary person, drinking it might induce temporary demonic transformation and greatly increase their strength, but it would soon overwhelm them, driving them completely mad.
However, Shenhe's Solitary Star and Disastrous Evil Fate was a perfect match for the ferocity of Gluttony's blood.
Her silver-gray eyes were instantly tinged with red, and the ethereal immortal aura around her turned into a misty shroud of blood.
"Well?" Lucas asked, his voice strained with pain but gleaming with satisfaction. "Aunt Shenhe, my blood tastes pretty good, doesn't it?"
"Gulp, gulp…"
"Um, I think that's enough…" Lucas frowned slightly.
"Gulp, gulp…"
"Maybe you should have some food with it?" Lucas's complexion started to pale.
"Gulp, gulp…"
"Aunt Shenhe, I'm… not going to make it…" Lucas's voice grew faint.
Finally, Shenhe reluctantly pulled her mouth away. Her once pallid lips were now bright red, giving her a stunning, almost bewitching look.
"How do you feel?" Lucas asked, pressing a hand against the bite marks on his neck.
"I've never felt anything like this," Shenhe said, staring at her hands. For the first time, her typically stoic face lit up with a smile. "It's… amazing. Absolutely exhilarating."
As a human, Shenhe's strength had been at the pinnacle of her kind, but she had always been limited by her mortal form.
However, after drinking Gluttony's blood, those limitations were shattered.
It was as though her bindings had been torn away, her accumulated power erupting all at once.
While Lucas had expected Shenhe's curse and his blood to complement each other, he hadn't anticipated such overwhelming synergy.
Shenhe was no longer entirely human—she had become half-human, half-demon, capable of rivaling some immortals.
"Still, you should calm yourself for now," Lucas said seriously. "The Millelith will likely arrive soon. Aunt Shenhe, you might have to endure a bit of hardship to clear any suspicion."
"Why bother with all that?" Shenhe sneered. "If the Millelith comes, I'll slaughter the Millelith. If the Liyue Qixing come, I'll wipe them out! I'll storm the Jade Chamber and take Ningguang's throne!"
What kind of overconfidence was this?
Of course, Lucas couldn't entirely blame her. After years of suppressing her violent instincts, Shenhe was now reveling in the sudden release, unable to control her excitement.
"Aunt Shenhe, please calm down!" Lucas said, half-laughing, half-crying. "To achieve great things, you need patience."
Though still intoxicated by her newfound power, Shenhe managed to compose herself slightly and asked, "What do you propose?"
"The clan's seal on a great demon weakened, and the demon broke free, massacring everyone. You, Aunt Shenhe, were caught in the chaos and barely escaped with your life," Lucas explained smoothly. "I'll make it look like a demon attack, but to fool the Ministry of Civil Affairs, you'll have to suffer a bit."
"That's all?" Shenhe said indifferently. "Go ahead, hurt me."
Lucas nodded. One hand morphed into a razor-sharp claw. "Brace yourself; this might sting a little."
With a swift strike, his claws raked across Shenhe's torso, leaving three deep gashes. Flesh tore open, and blood poured out.
Shenhe didn't flinch. Her face remained stoic, not even letting out a grunt.
What a warrior!
Despite the severity of the wounds, Shenhe's newly transformed body healed rapidly. Lucas worried that her injuries might recover before the Millelith even arrived.
After wounding Shenhe, Lucas transformed into his demon form and rampaged through the clan compound before slipping away.
As expected, within hours, news of the clan's destruction had spread. Shenhe, found gravely injured, was rushed to a medical clinic.
Just as Lucas had planned, no one suspected Shenhe of being the culprit. Her severe wounds were clearly inflicted by a demon.
Moreover, Shenhe was a disciple of Cloud Retainer, with Ganyu as her senior. Few dared to accuse someone with such prestigious connections.
The annihilation of the exorcist clan quickly became a mystery that rocked Liyue.
Only Chongyun, who had been meditating in an ice chamber to suppress his yang energy, survived the massacre. However, upon discovering the carnage, his pure yang energy erupted uncontrollably, leaving him in a state of madness.
Before leaving the destroyed compound, Lucas searched the clan leader's body and found an ancient manual. It was the technique he had mentioned earlier, requiring a Solitary Star and Disastrous Evil Fate individual as a furnace for cultivation.
[Exiting Immersive Mode]
[Reward Received: "Thousand Calamities Dual Cultivation Technique"]
[Description: An extremely sinister cultivation method requiring dual cultivation with an individual bearing the Solitary Star and Disastrous Evil Fate. Highly dangerous to practice.]
[The destruction of the exorcist clan became the talk of Liyue, despite the Ministry of Civil Affairs' attempts to suppress the news. Rumors spread of a great demon breaking its seal, spreading fear across the land.]
[To address the rising threat of demons, the Liyue Qixing partnered with the Adventurers' Guild to combat the growing menace.]
---
Sorry for short chapter guys.. I am out and can't do much.. I'll make it up to you with extra chapters tomorrow