Global Dungeon: I Can See the Status Bar

Lu Wenwu looked at the middle-aged man in front of him with surprise: ”I didn’t expect you to think of this layer, it’s made me see you in a new light. I thought you would say it’s because you’re not strong enough or ruthless enough.”

”Ha... thank you for your compliment. If it were me just breaking through to Divinity Transformation, I might have answered like that. But now, I’ve been in Late-stage Divinity Transformation for over seven hundred years...”

The Blood River Demon Venerable laughed at himself, his eyes filled with unhidden bitterness and sorrow.

”I first encountered the Immortal Dao at nine due to a disaster. By relying on a Cultivation Technique commonplace in the Cultivation Realm, I entered Foundation Establishment at eleven, entered the demon path to forge a Top-grade Golden Core at seventeen, condensed a First-Grade Nascent Soul at fifty-four, and slaughtered a million lives to step into Divinity Transformation at one hundred seventy-two.”

”When I reached Late-stage Divinity Transformation before I was three hundred, it was my most high-spirited time. I took over the Blood Refining Demon Palace and nearly became the Uncrowned King of the Demonic Dao. Back then, I believed I would certainly Ascend to Immortality, just like the former Blood Refining Demon Venerable.”

”But reality hammered me severely.”

”When I was five hundred, I finally realized something.”

”I am not invincible. I cannot become endlessly stronger.”

”Demon cultivators, too, have their limits.”

”Only at this point did I finally understand why so many astonishing cultivators and Demon Gods fell just before Ascension.”

”The gap between Late-stage Divinity Transformation and Late-stage Divinity Transformation is greater than the gap between a Mid-Stage Divinity Transformation Sword Cultivator and a rural mutt.”

Lu Wenwu nodded in understanding: ”So you started correcting your ’Dao’? By, for instance, reforming the Demonic Dao and establishing order for it?”

”Yes.”

The Blood River Demon Venerable sighed deeply.

”I must admit, you do indeed have a bit of Talent.” Lu Wenwu couldn’t help but laugh again, ”You’re getting close to the right edge, but it’s still not quite right. Honestly, you’re not far off.”

The Blood River Demon Venerable suddenly sat upright, hope revealed in his eyes: ”I’d like to hear more.”

Lu Wenwu posed another question: ”What do you think constitutes the ’Demonic Dao’? Or rather, do you truly believe that what you are doing now counts as ’demonic’?”

”Uh... isn’t it...?” The Blood River Demon Venerable felt a bit confused.

I’ve cultivated the Demonic Dao for a thousand years, and now you’re telling me it’s not demonic?

Lu Wenwu said earnestly: ”Do you really think what you’re doing now is already worthy of being called ’demonic’? In my view, even Ancient Demon Cultivators fall far short.”

”Consider the ’Joyful Union Sect,’ known within the Demonic Dao. This is a sect that relies on inviting large numbers of the opposite sex to assist in your cultivation, consuming their Vitality and Life Energy, thereby rapidly increasing one’s Cultivation, correct?”

The Blood River Demon Venerable nodded: ”Yes, isn’t that Demonic Dao cultivation?”

”What kind of demon is that? It’s merely indulging in one’s lust, nothing more.” Lu Wenwu gave him a glance, ”Surely you don’t think Righteous Dao cultivators don’t have harems or host parties? They just don’t do it openly.”

”...”

The Blood River Demon Venerable fell silent.

Upon reflection, he felt that Lu Wenwu did make some sense.

Righteous Dao is not devoid of integrity.

For instance, Sword Cultivators are generally all bachelors, with their interests revolving around their swords.

Or there are the uniquely chaste Buddhist Sect cultivators, and the Saint Venerable Heng Ru, the Alliance Leader of the Immortal Dao Alliance, all of whom refrain from such activities.

But as for others... well, that’s not always the case.

A high Cultivation level only signifies strong Talent and good fortune; it says nothing about one’s character.

Many male cultivators keep female lovers, male lovers, and mortals.

Female cultivators keep male consorts, female consorts, male animals, and Demon Beasts—it’s not unheard of.

The Beast Taming Sect quietly sells popular items on the Demonic Dao side, deals that the Blood Refining Demon Palace is very familiar with.

Lu Wenwu continued: ”For example, there’s the well-known ’Puppet Heart Sect,’ which is proficient in Soul Manipulation spells, most famously using a technique that expends a trace of mental focus and some precious materials to make someone utterly loyal and dramatically increase work efficiency, right?”

The Blood River Demon Venerable: ”???”

After some thought, he realized that the other might be referring to the Puppet Heart Sect’s signature—Living Puppet Technique.

The ability to refine cultivators, mortals, and Demon Beasts into a type of Living Puppet, which is more flexible than the Corpse Puppet Technique of the Corpse Puppet Sect outside of large-scale battlefields.

”Refining living creatures into puppets—this isn’t considered ’demonic’?” The Blood River Demon Venerable asked sincerely, ”It’s said their Inheritance is from the Ancient Era, and they still keep two mother-child linked puppets at the Divinity Transformation Level.”

”No, that’s not considered ’demonic,’ it’s merely a disregard for human life, using it as a consumable.” Lu Wenwu shook his head.

”Do you think Righteous Dao lacks such methods? What about the Beast Taming Sect’s Beast Soul Combat Puppets? Or do you have no idea about the Spiritual Wisdom level of Demon Cultivators at Demon Core Stage and above? The Puppet Heart Sect is merely equating humans with Demon Beasts.”

The Blood River Demon Venerable was speechless.

What Lu Wenwu said indeed made sense.

To think that he, a dignified Demon Venerable, was unwittingly using a double standard.

Lu Wenwu continued: ”I remember your Demonic Dao has some famous things, like the Human Emperor Banner, which involves refining human Souls into a small flag, or the Ten Thousand People’s Umbrella, made by refining Souls into an umbrella, right?”

”And there’s the Nirvana Hall as well, which fuses human bones into an eternal, indestructible structure, serving as a cool palace for defense or attack. And the Elixir that condenses the essence of flesh and blood into a small orb to be consumed, strengthening one’s Mana and body, right?”

The Blood River Demon Venerable thought, believing what he mentioned might be the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, Blood Soul Umbrella, White Bone Battle Palace, and finally the Blood Food Pill...

”This should at least be a Demonic Dao technique, right?” He couldn’t help but ask, ”Soul Extraction and Refining, Bone Transformation and Flesh Condensation, there’s nothing more cruel than that.”

”You see, you still haven’t realized.” Lu Wenwu shrugged, a slight regret on his face.

”These Demonic Spiritual Artifacts and Elixirs; whether it’s human bone, Human Skin Talisman, treating people as blood food or Spirit Stones, ultimately they all fall under the realm of ’cruelty.’”

”What is cruelty? It’s defined by human morality, things done to other creatures that humans can’t tolerate. Anything that meets this standard is cruel.”

”You see, you pride yourself on being a Demon Cultivator and ’entering the demon,’ yet you’re still constrained within the ’human’ realm. You are still subject to human moral limitations, still aware of what you’re doing.”

”All cultivators use Demon Beast skin for Talisman making, Demon Beast blood for ink, Demon Beast bone for Artifact Refining, Demon Beast Souls for puppet making, and Demon Beast meat for Alchemy. These beings have Spiritual Wisdom akin to humans; why does no one consider this bloody or cruel?”

”In my view, even if you add together all the Demon Dao cultivators, even including those who have Ascended or the far more cruel Ancient Demon Cultivators, not one counts as a true ’demon.’”

”At most, you’re a bunch of bad people, evil ones, cruel and wicked guys.”

”And if you repackaged your techniques and methods, you could call them righteous techniques without any issue.”

”Using the Blood Fusion Skill to help other cultivators regenerate severed limbs, isn’t that feasible?”

”Let the Joyful Union Sect female cultivators open brothels, using bidirectional Yin Yang Dragon Phoenix Heaven Earth Sympathy Technique to ensure mutual benefits over multiple small engagements—would cultivators not call them living Bodhisattvas?”

”Is it hard to cleanse oneself and become a Righteous Dao cultivator? The line between black and white is inherently blurry, and people are dual in nature, capable of transformation at any time.”

”But people and demons are not like this.”

”As you said before—humans have limits.”

”Indeed, for you, that is true.”

”But a ’demon’ has no limits.”

”To enter the demon path, to become a true demon, you must cast away the ’human’ part of you.”

”When you have shed all human limitations, all the morals humanity has defined, and truly start looking at and dealing with this World from a non-human perspective, then you count as having truly ’entered the demon.’”

At this point, Lu Wenwu paused slightly, the corners of his mouth slightly uplifted.

”Are you ready to stop being human?”