Why are all of us who transmigrated at the same time demons?

Therefore, he gradually acquired a title and honorific name—Star-Devouring Demon or Ominous Chaos from Beyond the Heavens, thus being honored as an Outer God in the Chaotic Universe.

Hokage Loran, on the other hand, walks his own path to becoming a Star God, the opposite of Otsutsuki Shibai. Otsutsuki Shibai attempts to stretch his existence across the river of time, while Loran expands his existence into one parallel world after another.

Their paths as gods, one vertical and one horizontal, seemed to remain separate. But Loran had a premonition that they would meet sooner or later.

Upon seeing the arrival of New Loran, they stopped their conversation and exchanged memories with New Loran.

After reading New Loran's memories, Death God Loran twitched the corner of his mouth, feeling somewhat speechless: "What's going on in your world? Did Third Brother's family invade a high-level martial arts world?"

"No, how did martial arts training lead to a caste system?" Hokage Loran was also amazed. "These celestial beings, ancient people, territorial people, and untouchables are just different ways of saying Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras from my third brother's family, aren't they?"

“Not entirely,” Death God Loran interjected. “The inhabitants of their world are like a combination of Vaishyas and Shudras, while the untouchables are more like the Dalits.”

The newly arrived Gao Wu Luolan sank into the soft sofa, somewhat helplessly saying, "According to my investigation, the so-called Celestials should be a group of outsiders, but we don't know where they came from. This world should have been a ruin in ancient times, and these ancient people should have originated from that era."

"The arrival of the Celestials triggered a war with the local indigenous people, also known as the Ancient People. In the end, the Celestials won the victory, but the resistance of the indigenous people was probably quite strong. Therefore, the Celestials chose to divide and win over the indigenous people. The current martial arts civilization should be the product of the combination of the foreign civilization brought by the Celestials and the local characteristic forces."

"And the distinction between the common people and the lowly people can be traced back to ancient times, forming a completely unshakable class system."

"According to my research, whether they are ancient people, domain people or lowly people, they all have a bloodline-level 'lock' placed in their bodies. This bloodline 'lock' can restrict their absorption of external energy and their physical expression. This means that all humans except for celestial beings must obtain authorization from celestial beings in order to cultivate normally and break through."

"The cultivation system brought by the Celestials is divided into nine levels: Mortal Transformation, Meridian Opening, Yuan Dan, Spiritual Qi, Dharma Form, Supernatural Power, Domain Lord, Holy Soul, and Destiny. Anyone below the Celestials who wants to cultivate must obtain divine authorization from the Celestials. To break through each level, one must go to the temple to receive baptism before breaking through."

"The Celestial Beings have completely sealed off the possibility of danger brought by 'geniuses' and 'extraordinary talents.' Even geniuses cannot even step into the gate of cultivation without the Celestial Beings' authorization to cultivate."

"The difference between the ancient people, the local people, and the lowly people is simply that the level of authority of this 'lock' is different."

"Cultivation is strictly forbidden for the lowly. Any attempt to sense primordial energy or strengthen the body will be considered 'stealing celestial power,' and upon discovery, the individual and those associated with them will be subjected to the most severe punishments."

"Citizens are allowed to cultivate to the peak of the Meridian Opening Realm. The Yuan Dan Realm requires extremely strict approval, huge contributions, and even more severe monitoring by the Yuan Power Imprint to have a slight chance of breaking through, and it is one in a hundred. Once they break through, their family may be promoted to the status of an 'Ancient Citizen Vassal' of the Ancient Citizen family that guaranteed their breakthrough, but their status is still low."

"Ancient people are allowed to cultivate to the [Dharma Aspect Realm] or even the [Divine Power Realm]. The [Domain Lord Realm] requires establishing unparalleled merits and receiving direct 'blessing' from the celestial beings in order to attempt a breakthrough. It is only a legendary reward used to set a benchmark."

"Even so, there is not a single [Domain Lord] among the ancient people now. Those ancient people who reached the [Domain Lord] level in history were all transferred away under the pretext of 'bestowing the glory of serving the supreme martial god' after a period of time, and rarely appeared in family affairs."

"The [Saint Soul Realm] and [Heavenly Fate Realm] are the exclusive domain of Celestial Beings; those below the Celestial Being level should not even dream of attaining them."

"Furthermore, the Celestials constructed the 'Nine Luminaries Spirit Absorption Array' using their capital city as the array's core. This array, like a towering tree, firmly roots itself into the world, periodically collecting the Yuan Power generated by cultivators below the Celestial level through daily practice as 'Yuan Power Offerings.' Local residents receive a portion of the offerings from the lower classes, ancient people receive a portion from the local residents, and ultimately, the Celestials consume the lion's share, further widening the gap between the various social classes."

"What a hopeless world!" Death God Loran sighed.

Hokage Loran glanced at the composed Gao Wu Loran and asked, "What do you plan to do?"

“In my opinion, this system is not difficult to crack.” Gao Wuluolan shrugged. “This high-pressure system relies on ‘isolation’ to cut off the hope of the lower class to rise through extremely strict ‘isolation’, thereby breaking their backbone. But life will always find a way. As long as I drill a few holes in this iron curtain, in the long run, this system will collapse.”

"But a few small holes won't be very effective, will they? Besides, the people above will naturally patch up these holes themselves," Hokage Loran asked curiously.

“Yes…” Gao Wuluolan admitted, “There are only individuals who betray their class, not classes that betray their class. It’s not very effective for just a few people to break through this iron curtain, but we have to thank our pirate brothers here.”

Gao Wuluolan revealed a wicked smile: "Since his 'Heavenly Demon Curse' can make Celestial Dragons fall in love with slaves and cause Celestial Dragons to confuse their own bloodlines, what do you think will happen if I cast this curse on this world?"

Gao Wuluolan's words were somewhat sinister: "There is no such thing as real trash, only resources in the wrong place. Even 'Female-oriented True Love Madman' can find its use!"

“However!” Gao Wululan changed the subject, “This method has already been used by the pirate Greenskin, and I don’t want to use it again; it’s easy to get tired of it. I have a new idea!”

"Hurry up! I want to see rivers of blood!" Pirate Loran and High Martial Loran, who had appeared out of nowhere, put their arms around each other and urged.

Chapter 218 High-Ranking Martial Arts: The Road Ahead

Ah Shui crawled out of the dilapidated shack, his upper body naked and his lower body covered only by tattered strips of cloth. He scratched his filthy hair, which resembled a chicken coop, and ran to the river in the shack area to wash his face and clear his head.

He pulled out a dark, unidentifiable object and finished his breakfast with a bowl of fairly clear water handed to him by the woman next door.

This is the edge of "wasteland" or "filth," the dwelling place of these untouchables.

They are seen as walking pollutants, existing to process other pollutants until they are all destroyed together.

Today he is going to go deeper into the wasteland, to explore the extremely dangerous edges of the ruins that even the local inhabitants are unwilling to easily set foot on, to exchange his life for a little bit of possible residue in order to obtain today's food.

Safety? What is that? There is no safety to speak of in a wasteland.

People like them are considered lucky to live past 20. They don't even know where their dinner is going to be, so what safety issues are they worried about?

The common people reach sexual maturity very early, much earlier than the local people and ancient people. Many of them had children when they were only children in Loran's previous life.

Certain undeserving upper castes periodically distribute "potions" to the lower castes, ostensibly as "care for the untouchables." In reality, these potions promote the sexual maturity and fertility of the untouchables, ensuring they can reproduce a sufficient number of "children of untouchables."

After all, without the commoners, how would the higher-ups exploit them layer by layer? If they didn't use the drug, given the harsh environment on the edge of the wasteland, the higher-ups were worried the commoners would become extinct. As for the physical damage caused by the drug? Uh... let's not bring up that embarrassing topic.

Ah Shui walked silently through the wasteland, his dark, rough skin blending seamlessly with the scorched earth, providing excellent camouflage. He couldn't remember how old he was, only that in his memory, the great river near the shantytown had flooded and risen and fallen 12 times.

Most of the untouchables have no clear concept of age; they basically live one day at a time.

Even the inhabitants of the wasteland would avoid this filthy place, but it was the "promised land" that Ah Shui relied on for his livelihood. He was lucky and skilled at exploration, and often managed to find some unidentifiable wreckage and strange ores, which he would then exchange for a few days' worth of food from the lords on the upper floors.

He didn't know why these things were here. He had only overheard a few words from the upper-level officials when he was exchanging items. They said this place was some kind of "ancient ruins" or something!

Of course, there were also those who didn't want to live deep in the wasteland like him. These people often joined the ranks of the local inhabitants, becoming serfs or miners in "servancy workshops" or "settlements." Ah Shui didn't want to go. Even though being a serf or miner seemed safer, with regular meals every day, the lifespan of these serfs or miners might not even be longer than that of scavengers like them.

Although scavenging is not safe, at least they don't have to be beaten every few days. In the eyes of the local people, these "black animals" are nothing. If they run out, they can just go outside and find more. The only things they need to pay are the entry and exit fees and the risk of going out.

Ah Shui has a secret: his mother wasn't a lowly person, but a member of the caste, or rather, a "fallen" member of the caste. While rare, this wasn't unheard of; being demoted was an extremely cruel punishment, far more brutal than the death penalty, and only the temples of the Celestials were authorized to issue such a severe punishment.

Her mother's family suffered such cruel punishment; it was said that her uncle, whom she had never met, murdered the youngest son of an ancient citizen. Therefore, Ah Shui's perspective and knowledge were broader than those of the average citizen.

When he was young, his mother often told him about the extravagance and majesty of the ancient lords she had seen when she was a young girl, as well as the towering and magnificent temples of the celestial beings. She even once saw the celestial capital floating high in the sky.

"As expected of the eldest son of the God of War!" Ah Shui still remembered the flames in his mother's eyes and the longing on her face when she said those words.

Ah Shui didn't know what "a house full of gold and jade" meant, nor did he know what "divine might" meant. He could only envy the lush farmland his mother used to describe for a long time.

Today, he found a black jade pendant, which should be called "Jade Pendant," right? His mother seemed to have taught him that, but she passed away a long time ago, and Ah Shui couldn't quite remember.

Normally, he would happily deliver it to the traveling merchant who buys wasteland, in exchange for several days' worth of food. But today he hesitated. A voice inside him told him that this thing was very important to him and could not be discarded casually.

Ah Shui gritted his teeth, stuffed the jade pendant into a pocket sewn into his tattered, modesty skirt, and carefully wrapped it up.

For today's meals, he decided to continue searching.

Where he couldn't see, Loran quietly observed him, watching him carefully put away the black jade pendant before leaving with satisfaction.

Upon arriving in this world, Loran's powerful soul sensed something different.

In that vast wasteland, some ominous shadows lingered.

These shadows settle on the "back side" of the world, perhaps the lingering echoes of the collective consciousness of ancient destroyed civilizations, or the despair and anger of oppressed beings, or the unclaimed soul energy deposited in the Void Realm itself, or perhaps all three.

These things are "disorderly" and "dark," and apart from specialized demonic cultivators, ordinary practitioners should avoid them at all costs.

But Loran sensed within this power the possibility of breaking down the Celestial caste system.

This world follows the path of martial arts, but the physical potential of humans below the Celestial level is locked. According to Loran's investigation, perhaps during the Celestial invasion or after the war with the native inhabitants, the Celestials spread something to this world or held a large-scale ritual to embed something called a "Spiritual Root Lock" or "Bloodline Lock" into the bodies of the natives.

This thing is a permanent "bloodline pact" and it is hereditary.

For example, the "Spiritual Root Lock" completely blocks the ability of the untouchables to sense and absorb elemental energy. Forcibly attempting to do so will trigger a violent energy repulsion reaction, causing unbearable pain or even death by explosion. Their "Spiritual Root" is set to a "negative value" or an "insulator".

The Celestials refer to the baptismal ceremony performed by the natives at the temple when they break through to a higher realm as the "Sequence Key" or "Divine Gift." In reality, it involves using potions and rituals to unlock specific sequences of biological commands and energy codes. Each "key" can typically only be used once to unlock the next realm. To advance to the next realm, a new key is required.

Moreover, the key not only unlocks realms but also strengthens the bond between the spiritual root lock and the current authorized level. Whoever's key you accept, your source of power will forever be controlled by that person. Each use of the key is equivalent to signing a deeper name within your physical body and bloodline.

Therefore, the ancient people all had affiliated Celestial families who could not betray them, because they had long been marked by them.

The ancient people, the domain people, and the lowly people are all essentially slaves of the celestial beings, just with different treatments. The ancient people are high-level steward-like household slaves; the domain people are low-level servants, artisan slaves, and serfs; while the lowly people are basic consumables that even slaves would despise, not even worthy of being called servants.

This completely locks down the possibility of natives pursuing physical martial arts, making it impossible to change to a different physical path. Physical energy sensing and absorption are locked down, so what's the point of talking about physical martial arts?

Unleashing the potential within the human body? Loran laughed. Did they think humans were all descendants of ancient gods and demons? That power could be born out of thin air from their bloodlines? Besides, their physical bodies were locked up; what kind of power could they possibly unleash?

Even the Desolate Heaven Emperor's system of using one's own body as a seed never said it had no requirements for the external environment.

To truly break free from the constraints imposed by the divine, one must begin at the level of the soul!

As for how to make the power of the soul feasible, then we have to rely on the "dregs" that the celestial beings look down upon.

Chapter 219 High-Ranking Martial Arts: Life Weapon

Ruins Realm, Black Iron Mine Cave District 17.

This is a forgotten corner of the world, where the air is filled with a nauseating mixture of smells—the sour stench of sweat, the putrid stench of festering wounds, and the ever-present, indelible odor of blood. The cracking of whips and the vicious curses of the overseers are the eternal background music here, like a symphony of despair played for the miners.

The lowly miners, their eyes vacant like soulless puppets, mechanically wielded heavy picks, mining black iron ore imbued with faint elemental energy. For every bit of ore they produced, every wisp of vital energy they released, most of it was mercilessly drained away by the omnipresent "Nine Luminaries Absorbing Energy Array," euphemistically called "Essence Tax."

A gaunt boy stumbled, the basket of ore on his shoulder, far heavier than his own weight, nearly crushing him. Sweat and mud smeared his youthful but already dull face.

The overseer, a burly man from the Transcendent Realm with a face full of scars, grinned and lashed out with his whip. The whip, made of animal sinew, whistled through the air as it aimed straight for the boy's neck.

"Useless trash! What are you dawdling for! If you don't finish today's quota, none of you in the entire tunnel will get any food!"

The boy closed his eyes in fear, his thin body trembling with anticipation of pain. The surrounding miners watched numbly, perhaps with a hint of sympathy in their eyes, but mostly with fear of being affected themselves.

However, the expected lacerations did not occur.

The boy opened his eyes shakily and saw the overseer looking up, staring intently ahead with a pair of fierce eyes like those of a vicious dog. The boy turned his head and saw only a strange young man.

The young man was dressed in simple local clothing, but his clothes were extremely plain. He stood straight, his eyes looking around as if searching for something.

Those eyes didn't seem like they belonged in this dark and sunless mine; rather, they seemed to hold the secrets of the birth and death of countless stars and the endless cycle of the abyss. Beneath the calm lay a chilling madness and a playful spirit.

The overseer was taken aback, seemingly not expecting anyone to dare to run around so casually while he was disciplining others. Upon closer inspection, he realized the newcomer was just a local resident.

He thought it was some ancient lord. He was initially planning to kneel down and fawn over him, but he found that the person was just a lowly mortal like himself.

The foreman's face twisted with rage and shame: "Where did this scoundrel come from, daring to cause trouble in Lord Gumin's mining area? Do you want to die?!"

He suddenly exerted force, swinging his long whip, wanting to teach this arrogant fellow a lesson he would never forget.

But the next moment, his expression changed. That seemingly weak and pale hand easily caught the long whip he had swung with all his might without him even turning around.

That hand remained motionless, like an iron clamp! No matter how much he tried to activate the meager Yuan energy within his body, the whip seemed to be permanently attached to the other's hand.

Loran, or rather, the extraterrestrial demon who possessed the body of this mortal named "Loran," tilted its head slightly and looked at the overseer with the eyes of someone examining a novel toy.

This suffocating caste system, that bloodline-based spiritual root lock, divides all living beings into different classes, depriving the vast majority of beings of the possibility of upward mobility. This "order" made him feel extremely... disgusted. Especially after merging with the fragments of the original owner of this body's memories of despair, resentment, and living like livestock, a destructive urge to completely disrupt and tear everything apart arose spontaneously.

He had no interest in this physical body whose potential was completely locked away by the spiritual root lock, but the long-suppressed, distorted, and fermented pain, anger, and resentment of the hundreds of millions of oppressed beings on this land exuded a kind of "fragrance" that intoxicated him.

“Such fertile soil for the soul, yet it only grows despair. Perhaps I should sow some different seeds?” he whispered, but no one heard him.

"Looking for death?!" The foreman was completely enraged by Loran's appraising gaze. He threw down his whip, roared, and his fist, wrapped in a faint glow of Yuan energy, struck Loran's face.

This is a rudimentary skill bestowed upon the overseer by the ancient people. Although it is not a proper skill, it is enough to easily kill any lowly person who dares to resist.

Loran didn't even look at him directly, simply waving his hand casually as if brushing away an annoying fly.

The foreman's burly body was struck head-on by an invisible battering ram, flying backward at an even faster speed, crashing heavily against the hard rock wall with a sickening cracking sound. He slumped down without uttering a sound, dead.

The entire mine fell silent instantly! All the numb miners stared wide-eyed at Loran in disbelief.

He…he actually dared to rebel?! And he defeated the overseer so effortlessly?! After the initial shock came an even greater fear—he'd committed a grave offense! They would be implicated!

Ignoring the gazes of the crowd, Loran's attention was drawn to a faint, unusual fluctuation deep within the mine.

He walked over and, in the murky mud puddle, saw a half-buried fragment of a black broken knife. The fragment was rusty and the blade was badly chipped; it looked like scrap metal, yet it exuded a chilling aura and a faint, lingering resentment of bloodshed accumulated over countless years.

"Tsk, bearing countless despair and resentment, drinking the blood of living beings, and igniting an inextinguishable rage, it is the blade used by the former rebel of the domain, Lie Chi. It is worth my effort to find it."

The new path he pioneered is called the Path of the Soul, also known as the Tribulation of Reversing Fate. It does not cultivate physical strength, but only the will of the soul. Each breakthrough is a "tribulation of reversing" against oneself and fate, extremely dangerous, and can easily lead to the annihilation of the soul.

The road was made possible thanks to the ancient history and civilization that this land once possessed.

Loran's research suggests that certain objects in this world, due to long-term immersion in the residual energy of intense emotions, will, or significant historical events, develop extremely subtle "soul elements" or "heart imprints" within their material structure that resonate with the soul. These become excellent bridges connecting reality and the soul.

This existence can be described as the "material soul" of the Grim Reaper, or, to put it in a more fantastical way, it is similar to the heroic spirit particles required for cultivation on the pollen path set up by the red-haired old monster.

These objects, scattered among ruins and wastelands, are regarded as useless trash by the celestial beings, but the "material souls" sleeping inside them are the most precious "seeds" for practitioners of the Heart and Soul Path.

Therefore, the first tribulation of entering the path of the mind and soul, [sensing objects], is to perceive the "emotional weight" or "historical echo" contained within certain objects. This path is inherently a path of defying fate and is extremely dangerous. Even just entering the path carries great risks. The beginner may be impacted by the negative emotions (despair, madness) remaining in the material soul, resulting in a distorted personality.

The second tribulation, [Soul Infusion], involves finding a "material soul" vessel that best matches the wavelength of one's own soul. This vessel is then nourished with one's own soul power, will, and even blood, gradually "injecting" the rudiments of one's spiritual weaponry into it and combining with it.

This is no longer a mere imaginative shaping, but rather the forging of a soul's dream into a material reality. This is the prototype of the "life vessel".

Loran came to this mine in search of a suitable weapon vessel to serve as his "life weapon".

"Though not a divine weapon, in this special environment, over time, it has actually developed a trace of 'material soul'." Loran's fingertips traced the cold blade, and a trace of extremely pure demonic soul power, completely different from Yuan power, was injected into it. "It's quite a bargain for me. I will use you as the foundation to forge my first 'life weapon' in this world—the Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Divine Blade!"

Memories of a notorious and sinister sword technique from a certain universe flashed through his mind, and he greatly admired its name. In an instant, a vast and boundless demonic soul force surged into the broken sword fragments, forcibly fusing with the countless negative emotions, historical echoes, and the despair permeating the mine within the fragments, all centered around its supreme will!

"Om-!"

The broken blade fragments trembled violently, emitting an eerie dark light. The rust on the surface peeled off as if it were alive, revealing a strange blade body underneath that was dark as blood and seemed to have liquid flowing inside.

It seemed to awaken from its slumber, a terrifying sword intent that was bloodthirsty, plundering, and capable of annihilating everything soared into the sky, causing the temperature in the entire mine to plummet, yet it was firmly controlled by Loran, as docile as a lamb.