Demon Immortal
Demon Immortal - Chapter 166: Mysteries of the Black Heart(1)

"Slaughter isn't just a concept. It is a major dao. I can feel the boundlessness and magnitude of it. I can feel its wildness and rebelliousness. I can feel its madness and righteousness. It is just like earth, fire, water, lightning, wind, and other major daos. There are a lot of concepts that could be integrated into it."

"Slaughter can encompass a lot of things. Revenge, Rage, Ferociousness, Domination, Suppression, Killing, Blood, War, and a lot more. These all could be further cultivated into the Slaughter Dao. These concepts can be integrated further as they progress."

"Or even better, can slaughter be a stand alone concept…"

"Slaughter… Slaughter… Slaughter…"

Duncan immersed himself in figuring out the concept of slaughter first. He felt as if a new world had been opened to him. There were a lot of thoughts bouncing around in his head and he felt he would be able to grasp a concept of slaughter if he followed these thoughts to their end.

So, he didn't hesitate in doing so.

However, all through this, his heartbeat was like a background observer in his mind. Those beats echoed in his mind constantly as if they were trying to tell him something. But, Duncan was preoccupied with his desire to learn something about slaughter first.

Even then, a part of his mind was focused on the black heart and its heartbeat.

Time passed slowly and the reddish aura around Duncan seemed to become hazy. Duncan's inspirations into slaughter were gradually reaching a dead end and he still couldn't grasp any of the concepts he had felt earliet.

Duncan felt as if he just needed a little push to grab onto it. But, all his understandings so far were just superficial and weren't profound enough to grasp a martial dao concept.

Duncan felt that his inspirations were running dry and needed a new stimulation to once again broaden his mind. Deep down he knew that if persisting on this wouldn't help him at this moment.

After a few seconds of hesitation, Duncan decisively gave up concentrating on grasping the concept of slaughter and switched his focus. The thing he decided to concentrate on was the heartbeat he had been hearing in the background.

The moment Duncan's concentration shifted towards his black heart that was pounding in a strange rhythm. He felt his consciousness dragged into an unknown place.

Duncan blinked at the abrupt transition of his consciousness and looked around the place he had arrived in. The sky was red in color and everything around him carried a tinge of red within them.

Duncan didn't know how to react to this strange scene. However, this visual also reminded him of the state he was in while walking back towards that cave where he killed the Nine Yin sect disciple.

Duncan's curiosity was aroused and he began to concentrate hard on his surroundings. A strange thought rose in his mind. Duncan felt that if he could figure out the mystery between the red color, he would gain immense benefits.

So, he curiously tried to examine his surroundings.

The place he arrived in wasn't barren. Even though there was a tinge of red all around him, it didn't look like a desert or a wasteland. Rather, the surroundings looked similar to the Grasslands.

Tall grasses were present everywhere. The location was almost similar to the Granslands. Everything had a feeling of déjà vu. The only difference being that everything was tainted with some red color.

Duncan stepped forward and broke some grass stalks to examine them clearly. Looking closely at the red color, Duncan felt that the redness was like a wisp of blood. The thickness and feeling brought out the same feeling. However, there was something different about this blood that he was touching currently and normal blood.

There wasn't any difference when seeing with naked eye. But, when Duncan touched it, he could feel the difference very intuitively. There was a sense of madness present in the blood.

Duncan could feel an innate feeling present in the blood that resonated with him very much. Duncan didn't know what it was. It felt like excitement, madness, determination, and joy all combined in one.

The feeling almost overwhelmed Duncan. But, Duncan was able to shake his head and clear the intrusion of that strange feeling from the blood. Next moment, Duncan retrieved his hand from the blood. He looked at the blood warily and stepped back a little.

This new feeling made him feel a little puzzled. He had read about several things that influence a person's mind. Most of them are substances used by demonic cultivators. There were a lot of records regarding them in the scripture hall in the sect.

But, this blood was entirely new. The kind of feelings that it gave off actually resonated with him a lot. He felt as if he had finally found something that entirely suited him pretty well. This made Duncan wary.

In the cultivation world, these kinds of things that can lull a person into a particular mindset or a feeling are very dangerous. They often bring untold troubles to a cultivator. And anything new that wasn't discovered yet brought two possibilities – great danger or great opportunity.

Duncan didn't know what kind this blood fell under. Considering that his consciousness had been transported here after he concentrated on the black heart in his body, Duncan was predisposed to trust it. But still, this new phenomena made him a little bit cautious.

Deciding to not touch anything before he understood the nature of this place, Duncan looked around seeking any clue as to why his consciousness was here. Seeing nothing near him that stood out, Duncan decided to explore this place a little bit.

Walking slowly though the tall grass, Duncan eventually reached a slightly elevated region that overlooked a bloody ground in the distance. Throughout his walk, Duncan hadn't found anything that could be considered standing out. This bloody ground was the first thing that stood out.

Taking wary steps, Duncan walked towards the bloody ground and looked at it from afar. There was nothing different or unique about it apart from the bloody stench that was wafting from there. Apart from the soil and earth being completely covered in bloody, nothing seemed to be different about it.

Deciding not to waste any more time, Duncan cautiously placed a foot on the bloody ground.

BOOM!

Duncan's mind blanked for a second.

The next moment he was transported into battle scene. The entire figure was hazy and there weren't many details to observe. All he could see was a blood pumping battle taking place in the distance.

A youngster was battling a horde of beasts with reckless abandon. With every swing of his sword, he was chopping beasts as if he was chopping vegetables. Blood ran thick and limbs flew with abandon.

Duncan felt that the scene was strangely familiar. He could feel his soul resonate with the scene before him. Even though he couldn't identify the youngster or the beasts present, be could feel that the scene was connected to him somehow.

Suddenly a large howl echoed.

The beasts ran away leaving the youngster to battle the newly arrived beast. This beast felt faster and stronger. Duncan felt that the youngster wouldn't be able to withstand the new beast's attack.

And then it clicked to Duncan.

Duncan saw the youngster being sent flying away by the new beast. Duncan saw the youngster rising up once more as if he didn't believe he could be defeated. Duncan saw the youngster and the beast square off. And finally Duncan saw the youngster kill the beast after a single clash.

Duncan felt as if he was stuck by a bolt of lightning. He understood why he felt familiar seeing this battle. He understood why he felt the strange resonance while seeing this battle. He understood why this place looked familiar as well.

This was the Grasslands. And that youngster was him. And that battle was the one he fought during the beast tide.

It was him. And this land was like the Grasslands because of him.

This was the battle that awakened his black heart. This was the battle where he put his life on the line and came out on top. There can be numerous battles in his life, but this battle had far more significance than other ones to him.

This battle was where he was reborn. This battle was where his true self emerged. He may have changed his habits and actions after this. He may have behaved entirely different before this. But, in that battle, his true self had emerged.

And the black heart was guiding him toward his true self. And this is what he needs to become in order to rise higher.

This is what he was and he needed to find his way back toward this version of himself that dared to bet his life and come out on top. And this is where his path lay currently...