The Legend of Immortality

The newly emerged "Demon Artifact" is a sphere carved from a meteor crystal. Initially clear and translucent, the crystal now exudes a dark glow from its core. The leader has named it the "Night Demon Eye." After completing his task, Liu Lei departed from the headquarters and flew back to France. However, upon witnessing the celestial change accompanying the emergence of the Demon Artifact, a sense of unease gripped his heart. He knew the immense power the artifact wielded. Now, the Dark Association could finally confront the Holy See head-on. As he gazed down at the bustling expanse of Europe from the plane, he couldn't help but wonder how many cities would survive the clash between divine relics and demonic artifacts, and how many innocent lives would be lost should the Dark Association and the Holy See engage in direct conflict.

It doesn't matter, Liu Lei thought. What does their fate have to do with me? In any case, neither the Holy See nor the Association would dare stir trouble in China. The accumulated power of the Middle Earth's thousand years of cultivation is no trifling matter, nor are the Nine Immortal Generals of Zhongzhou or the Seven Sacred Buddhist Artifacts. Any one of them could easily counter these so-called "divine relics" and "demonic artifacts." Liu Lei reassured himself, but the guilt gnawing at him only grew stronger.

Upon returning to Christopher's home, he was surprised to find the violent girl, Nia, there as well. Upon seeing him, Nia sprang up and immediately asked, "Where have you been all this time? Uncle Chris says he doesn't know, but I know he does, he just won't tell me. Did you feel that terrifying wave of dark power that came from the direction of the headquarters a few days ago? Do you know what that was about?" She rambled on with one question after another, following him into his room. His mood heavy, Liu Lei turned to answer, "No comment, Miss." He then opened his hand, pressing it against her face to push her out, locking the door behind her.

Ignoring the girl who was pounding on the door, Liu Lei threw his luggage on the bed and opened his laptop. It had been a while since he'd been online, and he wondered if there were any updates. He checked his inbox, but before he could read more than a few emails, a pop-up window for an adult website appeared. Before he could close it, a loud noise echoed, and Liu Lei turned to see Nia, her fist clenched in fury. "A little door, and you think it can stop me?" she grinned triumphantly at him, but upon seeing the screen, her face twisted in anger. "You pervert!" Liu Lei hastily explained, "It popped up on its own, I didn't open it..." Nia didn't wait for an explanation; with a swift motion, she leaped out the window. Liu Lei sighed, muttering to himself, "Not the least bit ladylike—can't even use the door..."

He glanced back at the computer with a rueful smile.

Liu Lei approached Christopher. "You know about it, don't you?"

"Yes. To be honest, we're currently planning a counteroffensive against the Holy See. Many of the guards in the headquarters have been deployed, and the Holy See is also preparing. Our underground intelligence network has detected strange population movements, indicating they may have considerable hidden strength," Christopher answered, while reviewing some documents.

"Will many people die?" Liu Lei asked, his voice tinged with concern.

"Not at first. The locations we've chosen are far from cities," Christopher replied, putting down his work.

"What about later?"

"That's harder to say. Once the Demon Artifact is used, you, as its creator, should be aware of its destructive power. Accidental casualties are inevitable," Christopher said earnestly. Liu Lei winced, then asked, "Do you think any of the thirteen council members would agree if I tried to persuade them to abandon this plan?"

"None will agree!" Christopher stared directly into Liu Lei's eyes.

"Even you?" Liu Lei asked, his voice full of anguish.

"Even me!" Christopher responded firmly. "Everyone is now determined to reclaim what we deserve from the Holy See. After thousands of years, the dark world has never had such an opportunity. Every dark creature, myself included, will seize it."

"But didn't you say we could coexist peacefully with them?" Liu Lei countered.

"I was talking about the Light World, not the Holy See," Christopher clarified.

Liu Lei was speechless. He and Christopher had now reached an impasse.

Over the next three months, a total of eleven terror attacks targeting churches occurred, all in remote areas, drawing widespread media attention. Christopher explained that these locations were where the Holy See trained reserve knights and crusaders. A month later, Christopher returned to headquarters to convene a council meeting. Liu Lei speculated that their recent operations had yielded significant results, and they would now discuss the next phase of their plans.

During this period, Liu Lei focused solely on his "spiritual corpse" experiments. All his research plans had been completed. He combined the "Soul Transference" magic with the records from the "Book of Yin Souls" in the Sacred Scripture to devise a method for infusing a soul into a spiritual corpse. He stood watch outside the hospital, gathering the nearly dissipated souls of the dead with a crystal ball and attempting to inject them into the spiritual corpses. Unfortunately, several attempts ended in failure. After a few more tries, he realized that the tremendous force exerted during the ritual was too much for the average soul to endure, causing it to disperse before the procedure could finish. He deduced that to succeed, he would need a stronger soul—perhaps one belonging to a cultivator like himself, whose Yuan Shen could withstand the strain, or a "vengeful spirit," whose soul, fueled by immense resentment, would likely be more resilient. Despite coming up with a solution, the right soul had yet to present itself, so he had no choice but to wait.

The conflict between the Holy See and the Dark Association continued. Christopher returned with the Association's new directive: the Dark Association would devote all its efforts to securing rightful living space for all dark beings in this world of light. The primary objective was to weaken the Holy See's power as much as possible. The Dark Association would gradually emerge from the shadows, revealing some dark creatures to the light at opportune moments, in order to cultivate sympathy among ordinary humans. Simultaneously, they would covertly support pro-dark forces.

He also brought back an order for Liu Lei to participate in the battle, but Liu Lei crumpled the order and tossed it aside, not even remembering where it went. Christopher shook his head quietly, covering for him.

Soon after, new political forces began to rise in various countries at a rapid pace. Every force seemed to develop in near-miraculous ways, with hostile powers mysteriously vanishing. Ordinary people couldn't see the forces at play; all they witnessed were increasingly frequent media reports of sightings of dark creatures. The witnesses, however, were often just utility workers hanging from power lines or mountaineers caught in accidents, all of whom had been saved by the dark creatures using supernatural strength. People were puzzled, wondering if the dark creatures had converted to Christianity. Even more curious were the large numbers of media outlets, now carefully guiding public opinion, casting doubts on the Holy See's previous descriptions of dark creatures, and slowly rehabilitating their image.