The little creatures shrieked, dangling helplessly as his living hair constricted them like serpents.
Qiren's vision blurred at the edges, sapphire light pulsing through his pupils.
He felt… feral.
Unchained.
His lips peeled back in an instinctive snarl—
Before he even understood what he was doing—
SHRRRRK—
His hair tightened—and ripped their souls out.
One by one.
Their limp bodies dropped to the glowing soil.
Their souls—soft, shimmering ectoplasm and mist—hung suspended for a heartbeat.
Qiren inhaled sharply—
His mouth opened wider than ever before—
—and the souls shot into him like sparks sinking into a furnace.
FWOOMP—
Azure fire roared through him again.
They seared through his impurities, his mind, his soul—tempering everything to the pinnacle of his current realm.
The torrent of flame carried the same meaning as the vision he'd seen:
His unending path, bathed in Azure Fire. His Dao…
Azure Flames of the Blue Sea.
He became the being he'd glimpsed in his mind—chained, furious, transcendent.
His hair gagged on five captured souls, tendrils lashing out and coiling around three more demons.
His mind churned with a single thought—murder.
"Rrraaa—grrkk—shhrrrnnn!!"
He roared, failing even to form a snarl as the remaining fledglings scattered from him.
More. More. Give me more!
Tendrils of hair whipped through the chamber, carving scars into the ground and slicing the air. His eyes darted wildly for prey—
Qiren turned toward the Hawk he had ridden, the one waiting nearby. His primal hunger didn't care about usefulness or future plans.
He wanted its soul now.
But when he looked at it, his anger surged further.
"RRRAAAGGHHH!!"
Ting! Ting!
His chains rang as he lunged—only to be yanked back by the amethyst bindings.
His fangs flashed—
—and the Hawk he had tamed ignited.
Its feathers sloughed off, flesh blistering as a blue inferno devoured it from the inside out.
The flames roared in Qiren's core.
He felt the minor soul-link with the beast shatter—turned to dust along with the cursed berry fragment in his consciousness.
His snarl deepened.
He glared toward the distant hatchlings crouched just out of reach. They were fascinated by his mutation, watching him thrash in his chains.
The mountain shook, snapping them out of their trance—the island was still flipping.
They scattered, learning from the mistakes of those who had died earlier.
Not one of them wished to be killed by a demon who had successfully awakened their Dao and fallen into a berserker state.
Their parchments finished burning, and new formations spiraled beneath them as the Five Direction Sigils awakened—always with one missing word or sentence, replaced by a radiant symbol that overwhelmed its array.
New breeds of demons were born under certain sigils.
The first were those of the Underworld Seal.
Those marked by it convulsed upon awakening.
Whether insect-type, fledgling, or hatchling, they darkened into corpse-like husks, green flames flowing from their bodies.
The only consistent condition Qiren observed for awakening a Dao through this mark was that the subjects were already weak, exhausted, or bleeding beforehand.
What was strange, however, was another demon whose left hand still retained its natural reddish color.
Its knuckles had hardened into stone-like gray protrusions, and it was noticeably stronger than the others, possessing a more muscular build.
It resembled a gargoyle more than a demon—and the longer Qiren stared, the more he noticed its green flames slowly turning patches of its body into stone.
The second group awakened under Burning Hell.
Pale-skinned demons marked by its emblem gained orange flames that varied in intensity.
Weak, barely Dao-awakened demons manifested dull orange fire.
Slightly fitter ones produced deeper orange-red flames.
Crimson-skinned demons—who were always a cut above the rest—ignited with pure crimson fire, their flesh darkening into nearly black-red hues.
Blue-skinned demons marked by Burning Hell did not follow this hierarchical progression of fire color. Instead, they manifested lapis-blue flames that only ignited after an initial surge of orange fire, as if the sigil struggled to adapt to them before stabilizing.
The next—and final—group, excluding his Azure Pit and the missing Bone Key–awakened, was juveniles from Infernal Bite.
This mark appeared to apply only to insect demons, or to those with latent bloodlines.
Under its influence, beetles, bugs, and similar creatures were strengthened into living tanks or hardened weapons.
Their exoskeletons thickened and darkened into heavy plating, their bodies growing denser and more compact.
All of them manifested flames, though the type varied.
Poisonous insect demons burned with violet fire that clung to their bodies, while venomous ones—such as giant humanoid spiders and hornets he had seen chained to the far wall—produced dark, concentrated flames that gathered around their fangs or stingers.
Soon, the mountain swarmed with growling demon variants—all at the Qi Refinement Realm—packed into a single cavern.
The new hatchlings entering from outside found the atmosphere suffocating and quickly fled in search of parchment.
The cavern became a nest of chained demons. As an hour passed, the chamber continued to rotate.
Blink? Blink?
Qiren's madness finally ebbed.
The urge—
gone.
He looked around. His hair fell across the left side of his face. The chains still held him suspended—and without them, he would've collapsed.
The array beneath him had faded to a blackened ash mark, leaving only the blazing ribbon of Azure Fire coiled around him.
"I'm finally… back…"
His head throbbed as he tried to focus.
"I broke through…" he murmured, noticing his voice was deeper. He lifted his hands, staring at his sharpened nails.
Then he noticed it: the flowing Azure flame-scarf surrounding him.
He had seen it while feral—but now he could finally acknowledge it.
It shimmered with blue radiance, the flames moving like a river that started from the center above his head, flowing down both ends. The streams eventually curved, sending flames drafting upward like normal.
When he reached out, he realized it was half-solid—almost liquid.
Water…?
His palms felt wet and warm at the same time.
Qiren stared, squeezing and molding the flame between his fingers. It was soft—almost squishy—nothing like normal fire.
He lowered a portion of the flame to the ground.
Would it burn the soil?
Drip down the slanted mineral dust?
The moment it touched the "soil," it was absorbed—
—then burst outward in a sudden rising flame.
The heat intensified sharply, far hotter than it had been in his hand.
He tried to pick it back up—but recoiled instantly.
"Ahh!?"
The moment it touched the ground, it was as if its properties split into two:
The liquid part sank into the soil.
The fire part remained above, spreading.
"This is my Dao…?" Qiren whispered.
He settled against the tilted ground.
"I really would've regretted not coming here," he said aloud, hanging sideways in his chains. "If I hadn't come… I probably would've fallen off the island."
"And even if I survived somehow… I'd have missed my second demon inheritance."
He exhaled shakily.
Now he finally understood what his "inner sea" truly was.
He had thought the dark realm holding the full-body scroll was just a mental construct—something his brain invented to understand the impossible.
But it was real.
A layer within his body, accessible through his Daoist aperture and Spirit Core.
The Dao Sea.
A realm shaped by one's Dao.
If that was true…
"…then the silver scroll…" he murmured. "Was that a Dao too? Did I accidentally awaken it back on Earth—before I died?
…that brush could even have been a pseudo-earthly treasure, a relic brought to life with my Shamanic Dao."
Sadness flickered across his features.
"If I'd survived… maybe I could've used that Dao to take away people's curses. Become a real exorcist. Work for the rich. Retire before sixty or search for more Daoists or monks to obtain more wondrous treasures…"
A bitter laugh escaped him.
"…maybe even find a way to curse my ex-wife while I was at it."
Qiren let the last thread of melancholy slip out of him with a slow breath.
"…This isn't the time to dwell on 'what ifs,'" he muttered, pushing aside the thoughts of Earth, of curses, of the life he never got to finish. His chains rattled faintly as he adjusted his posture. "I have much, much more to worry about."
His gaze drifted over the valley—demons meditating, mutating, screaming, burning, evolving.
The parchment-trees rustled with crackling flame instead of leaves.
Now that his clarity had returned, the truth settled heavily in his mind.
"This… was just the weeding-out phase."
His voice was low, cold with understanding.
All the demons who failed to obtain a contracting parchment—
—those who did not awaken an array—
—those whose flames never ignited—
would not be registered as true demons.
"And when the island flips over…" he exhaled, watching the stone ceiling—now the ground—creak as gravity prepared to shift again,
"…the failures will fall straight into the Blue Sea."
He looked downward—or what would soon be downward.
The endless ocean of Azure Fire.
The thing he'd seen in his vision.
The origin of his new Dao.
"The Blue Sea is one of the true laws of the underworld," Qiren whispered, finally speaking the name his instincts supplied.
The Endless Nether Abyss
Unlike mortal realms, which operated under the natural laws of earth, water, fire, air…
The Endless Nether Abyss operated under higher, crueler principles:
The Azure Pit.
Burning Hell.
Infernal Bite.
Underworld Seal.
Key of Bones.
The names he had seen in the array were not just words.
They were real authorities.
Domains.
Pillars of existence.
And gaining a connection to one of them—
—even just one—
was the birthright of a true underworld demon.
A mark of legitimacy.
"And failing to gain one…"
Qiren glanced again toward the unseen Blue Sea,
"…means your soul is tossed into that flame and tormented forever."
He understood now why every demon that awakened a Dao was immediately chained down.
Why he, too, was bound even after surviving.
"Once the island fully topples," Qiren murmured, "the chains will release us. Those who survived the trial will be allowed to enter the First Floor of the Abyss."
His hunger stirred faintly at the thought.
A whole realm…
A whole world…
awaiting him.
He steadied himself.
He needed to know how badly the breakthrough had altered him.
He raised a hand.
The azure ribbon around his body trembled—
—and flakes of blue ash drifted from it like falling petals.
Qiren willed them upward.
They gathered in front of him, swirling, reforming—
Hmmmmmm—
A scroll began to take shape, forged of ash and flame, its charred surface stitching bit by bit.
His consciousness tightened in anticipation.
"Show me what remains," he whispered.
The new blackened scroll snapped into clarity before him as the last ash settled. Smoldering embers formed into words, taking the place of ink on the dark, pieced-together strip.
Applicable Curses & Blessings
Unnamed Bad Luck Spirit Curse (7/16 Cursed Berry fragments)
13 Despair
7 Hope
30 Years of Life Experience
Fear: 6.2
Pain: 0.7
(Certain emotions, conditions, knowledge, experiences, spirits, blessings, or curses may be transferred to others.)
Treasures
Demonic Parchment Ash-Strip (Tier 1 Hellish Object)
Dao Authorities: Contract Manifesting, Mortal-Grade Occultism
Authority: Contract Manifesting
By fully merging the rare residual ash granted by the hellish object Demonic Parchment Ash-Strip into your Azure Flames Dao, you have been acknowledged by The Endless Nether Abyss.
With this authority, you may manifest refined Abyssal Ash parchment, allowing you to trade and bind contracts with any sentient creature.
You are among the few demons to successfully pass the Dark Embryo stage of development.
Authority: Mortal-Grade Occultism
A heightened state of mastery granted by the broken authority of the newly born Sharmanic Dao inside you, over low-grade shamanic arts, granting exceptional success in curses, blessings, hexes, and ritual workings.
(This authority also enhances emotional and empathic transference, allowing thoughts, intent, fear, devotion, or madness to be conveyed with precision and amplified effect.)
Rituals
Bad Luck Cleansing (Incomplete) — a flawed counterfeit ritual, but functional for someone with latent spiritual affinity.
Imparting Rite (Incomplete) — a technique discovered by the demon Qìrén Vhal'Zerath: infusing miasma into objects to embed curses or soul effects.
Demonic Vessel Imparting (Incomplete) — by fusing a revised Bad Luck Cleansing ritual and the Imparting Rite at your disposal, you have crafted a unique demonic art that allows for manipulating and binding spirits and curses to your very soul.
Sub-Ritual
Cursed Berry Vessel — by using Demonic Vessel Imparting along with Cursed Berry fragments, you may craft a Vessel to house the spirit of misfortune inside them.
Titles
Dark Embryo
Bearer of the Blue Sea & Azure Flames
Emotional Balance
13 Despair | 7 Hope | Fear: 6.2 | Pain: 0.7
Physical Attributes
Strength: 34
Speed: 13
Agility: 16
Negative Karma: 723.6 ↑
Refinement Qi: 180.9 ↑
Refinement Realm: Middle Stage / Beginner
Knowledge & Experiences
— Medical Knowledge…
Exorcised Spirits (Unsealed / Fragmented)
1 — Bad Luck Spirit
Current Lifespan
23 ↑ Years · 6 ↑ Days · 12 ↑ Hours