Chapter 3 - Fiend Transformation Technique

The mysterious woman stared down at Yaan silently for a moment. Yaan forced himself to push through the pain and stare back at her, with an almost pleading expression on his face. He was no longer able to speak, but nor was he able to see through this woman’s thoughts or feelings in any way.

Finally, after what felt like an endless stretch of time, she spoke.

“Fine then, there is one method that has a small chance of success. Listen carefully, because after I act, I will fall into a deep slumber to recover my strength.”

Yaan was dazed by her words, but he continued to silently look up at her as he listened carefully. From the depths of his despair, he now felt the faintest trace of hope in this seemingly hopeless predicament.

“I will forcefully transmit the technique, ‘Fiend Transformation’ into your mind. Using this method, the technique will act on its own. It will at first wrack your body with an unspeakable pain as you develop the Fiend Foundation. If you lose consciousness during this time, you will die. On top of that, you need to kill one hundred humans before reaching the age of ten, or you will die. If you do survive the initial transformation, take this ring and hide it on your person at all times.”

The mysterious beauty who had spoken so little until now, rapidly said some fairly crazy things. Yaan forced himself to listen through the pain, but by the time she finished speaking, he wondered if perhaps he had made a dubious decision, digging himself into an even deeper hole. However, it was too late now for regrets.

The woman walked across to his shaking body with an elegance not seen on the women in Yaan’s home village, then leaned over and gently pressed her thumb against his head. Yaan’s eyes widened as a flow of energy and knowledge filled his mind, before he came back to his senses only to find that the woman had vanished without a trace.

However, now was not the time to ponder this bizarre matter. The energy she poured into his mind immediately became integrated with both his conscious mind and his memories. Yaan instantly understood that he had been gifted with an extremely evil cultivation technique, one that would even transform the body into an entirely different race, a demonic race! Not only that, but the mysterious woman already started circulating the technique through his body for him, forcing Yaan to undergo this ‘Fiend Transformation’ here and now.

There was nothing Yaan needed to do other than remain conscious throughout the duration of the transformation. He remembered what she said about not falling asleep, but found that the pain caused by his consumption of the strange fish was keeping him awake anyway.

It was as if the technique possessed a mind and will of its own. According to the process dictated by the technique, his body was continually undergoing adjustments and changes. His muscles, bones, organs and blood vessels all rearranged themselves into a different layout. There was no massive change on the outside, but these thousands of minor adjustments occurring every second left Yaan convulsing on the dusty ground, his body tormented by an agony like no other he had felt throughout his short life. The pain was so intense that he could hardly remember what was going on anymore, only that he needed to stay conscious.

However, these changes to his body actually seemed to build up his resistance to the demonic energy that was being continually released by the fish’s flesh. The black energy that was previously running rampant whilst damaging and corroding his internal organs, was now readily absorbed by his muscles and into his bloodstream, even assisting the progression of the transformation process!

Yaan’s vision had long since turned white, he was extremely light headed and lingering on the verge of passing out. The only thing holding him together was his overwhelming desire to live, which existed within him alongside his fear of death.

Time passed by slowly and painfully. Eventually, the convulsions began to reduce in their frequency. Yaan lay down on the ground, covered in the dirt that uncomfortably stuck to his blood soaked body. His ragged clothing was now even more disheveled, made sticky after absorbing much of his lost blood.

“Guh…” Yaan sat up dizzily and groaned. He clutched his head and grimaced, feeling a powerful migraine coming on. Still though, he felt a sense of joy at the fact that he had at least managed to survive!

Unfortunately, he quickly realised that his survival was nothing secure. He could confirm that the transformation was a success, meaning that he had indeed developed this ‘Fiend Foundation’. The technique was still fresh in his mind, as if he had memorised it himself. This was why Yaan felt begrudging, despite his survival.

The mysterious woman hadn’t been joking in anything she said. According to the technique, he really would die if he didn’t slay 100 people by the age of ten.

He also now understood why she had asked for his age. This technique was only possible to learn between the ages of five and nine. Yaan had never heard of a technique like this, but then again, he only knew of one other cultivation technique anyway.

“I don’t want to kill anyone…”

What sort of child would feel good at the prospect of being forced to kill 100 people? Certainly not Yaan. He thought back to that bitter memory, the memory of Elder Sun massacring his family. He soon found himself remembering the scene of Xinti killing Falca so savagely. Yaan couldn’t imagine himself committing the same sorts of atrocities as those vile individuals that he despised so deeply.

No…actually, he would happily kill Elder Sun and Xinti.

“Then…I just need to kill evil people?” Yaan had this thought, but quickly realised something. Did he even have the ability to kill? He was just a small and malnourished child, he could barely kill a chicken or a goat!

After gathering his thoughts together, Yaan didn’t immediately return to Zong Village. Before heading out, he actually decided to consume more of the fish that the mysterious woman called a ‘demonic beast’. This might seem stupid given that he nearly lost his life by doing exactly this just an hour earlier, but Yaan quickly realised that he wasn’t the same fragile child as before.

Having the Fiend Foundation meant that his body had transformed into something inhuman, something able to process the so called ‘demonic energy’ within this fish. Despite knowing this, his first bite was small and anxiety ridden. It was only after waiting for another half hour and confirming that he was really fine, that Yaan built up enough confidence to eat more.

His stomach had been filled to the point of bursting prior to the transformation, but it was now empty once again. It seemed that the Fiend Transformation burned up a truly enormous amount of energy, as he only felt satisfied after consuming another third of the bitter fish.

Looking down at the remaining third of the black beast, Yaan decided to take it back to his home in Zong village. It probably wouldn’t stay fresh for long, but it should at least be fine to eat the following day. Yaan carefully placed the remaining fish into the bag he used to drag lumber, wrapping it around a few times to disguise the smell.

He was extremely cautious during his return to the village. If he was caught with this fish, he didn’t know if someone might report him to Xinti, and that tyrant would certainly give him trouble for it. For now at least, Yaan wanted to keep the recent events a secret.

Luckily, it seemed like nobody cared enough to pay close attention to him. He passed by multiple people, but they were all starved and lethargic, fully focussed on themselves and their own survival, without the luxury to care about the lives of anyone else. Yaan realised that so long as he didn’t bump into Xinti or Jash directly, then his actions should go unnoticed.

Today, he hadn’t brought back any lumber. However, there were over a hundred residents in the village and Xinti would neither notice nor care if he missed a single day of work. Working wasn’t mandatory in the first place, but everyone would work for their food under normal circumstances. Since Yaan had eaten so much fish, he didn’t care about his meagre potato rations right now.

When he finally returned to his home, Yaan breathed out a sigh of relief. He stored the fish under his bed, then sat down on the bed and closed his eyes.

He was examining all of the information he possessed regarding the Fiend Transformation technique.

Yaan was unsure how cultivation techniques would usually work, as he had nothing for comparison. The Fiend Transformation though, appeared to be a one time transformation with lasting implications for his body that paved the way for future progress. This was known as the Fiend Foundation.

The transformation would cause changes in the human child’s body, forcing it to develop the Fiend Foundation. This ‘foundation’ was the physical foundation that allowed one to become a true fiend later on, a type of demonic race. However, this was not without its cost.

As he already knew, he would need to kill 100 humans by the age of ten. This was because the Fiend Foundation would grow unstable without any supporting Yuan Qi, and the only way for a person with the Fiend Foundation to ascend to the Qi Gathering realm, was through slaughter.

It seemed that even if he were to obtain another cultivation technique, it would be completely useless in assisting his progression towards the first stage of cultivation, the Qi Gathering realm. The only viable method for him to reach this first stage was to kill 100 humans to accumulate slaughter aura. At that point, the accumulated aura of slaughter within his body would trigger a drastic change, causing his body to rapidly absorb spiritual energy from the surroundings and step into the Qi Gathering realm naturally.

There were also some restrictions regarding the way in which he killed. It was said that he needed to kill the 100 people of his own free will, he couldn’t be controlled by someone else. On top of that, there was a chance that he could lose his mind due to the accumulation of slaughter aura in his body and mind.

Whilst reading through this mass of information which was firmly imprinted in his mind like a long memorised passage of text, Yaan sighed to himself.

This technique was really strange to say the least. He couldn’t imagine why someone would choose to learn this under any normal circumstances. The only benefit he could see to this technique over the basic cultivation technique sold by the Heavenly Path Sect, was that the Fiend Transformation also allowed him to strengthen his body.

For the remainder of the night, Yaan didn’t sleep for a single second. He spent this time sat silently on his wooden bed, mulling over his options. He felt inner turmoil towards his situation, this mixture of a blessing and a curse. On one hand, he had been given an opportunity to gain real, tangible strength, but on the other hand, he needed to kill before even beginning his journey.

Yaan felt torn. He didn’t want to kill, not innocent people anyway. If he did something like that, then how was he any better than Elder Sun?

As the night passed by, Yaan pondered over this question time and time again. The conflict within his heart reached a peak by midnight, but it slowly began to unravel as Yaan’s thoughts started to change. Eventually, his gaze changed subtly, the light in his eyes becoming a shade dimmer than before. He had found his answer.

“To kill in order to avenge the deaths of my family is far different compared to Elder Sun who takes lives like cutting grass. If it’s for revenge…then I am willing to kill!”

He thought about his family, and also about Falca and Una who had both died needlessly. Jash had turned his back on their past relationship whilst Elia’s status was unknown.

At this point, who was he even trying to protect? Wasn’t he just foolishly clinging onto a naive way of thinking, holding himself back from achieving what he truly wished for?

To kill Elder Sun.

Right, when it came down to it, this was still his deepest desire. Now that he had been presented with this unlikely opportunity, he definitely wouldn’t let it go!

“But still, I will not kill innocents.” Yaan promised himself this. He didn’t want to become like the man he hated so much, so he vowed to only kill those he deemed deserving of death.

Yaan had not yet realised it, but the Fiend Transformation technique was already affecting his mind and his way of thinking, subtly but surely. The past him could never have resolutely committed himself to slaughtering 100 people, but now, he already saw this as something feasible.

Of course, he couldn’t be impatient. If he just ran out right this moment and attempted to end Xinti’s life, he would suffer regardless of the outcome. For one, he would almost certainly be killed on the spot. Xinti was a Qi master whilst Yaan was just a mortal. Yaan’s body had been slightly strengthened after gaining the Fiend Foundation, but the strengthened body of a malnourished child couldn’t even match up to a normal adult, no matter a Qi master at the Qi Gathering realm.

Secondly, even if by some miracle he did win, Yaan was sure that the Heavenly Path Sect wouldn’t let him go if he killed one of their members. Xinti was actually an inner sect disciple, but he was put in charge of the outer sect Zong village as a duty to the sect. The sect didn’t seem to value the outer sect disciples, but from what Yaan had heard, they truly took care of the inner sect disciples.

Because of these two reasons, there was only one way in which Yaan could successfully kill Xinti without suffering from the repercussions. He needed to kill him in his sleep, without being discovered.

If it was the him from 3 months ago when he had first arrived in the outer sect, Yaan would never have dared to even think along this path. But now, things were different. He knew that Qi Gathering realm beings like Xinti weren’t as invisible as he had once believed. They still needed to sleep, and their physical bodies were still weak.

After deciding on the most suitable course of action, Yaan began to act, slowly and patiently. He continued with his daily job so as not to raise suspicion, but only ever bothered chopping enough wood such that he could still fill his stomach with the cheap potatoes.

Aside from this, he spent any free time subtly observing Xinti and his routine, trying to find a reliable time to strike. Luckily, Xinti was a creature of habit. He rose at first light, cultivated until lunch, ate an excessive lunch, cultivated some more, then spent three hours in the evening confirming people’s work. Well, he hardly even did that much, since he delegated this job to Jash, another young boy and a girl.

During his time observing the hateful fatty, Yaan learned something that he really wished he had not known. The girl who assisted Xinti with his work…was being ravaged by him every night. Xinti was 23 years old, whilst this girl was only 13. On witnessing this horrifying scene for the first time by chance, Yaan had no idea what he was seeing. He was only 6 years old after all, he had not yet been taught about the matters between men and women.

After talking to some other boys cautiously, he quickly discovered the truth. He felt no less disgusted on learning about sexual matters, though. If anything, he became even more certain that Xinti was someone vile and deplorable.

With further observation, Yaan grew accustomed to the behaviour of Xinti and the three people who followed him around like obedient lap dogs. Yaan discovered that by following Xinti, those three were all able to reliably eat their fill every day without working half as hard compared to everyone else.

They were also given more authority, sometimes beating down those who annoyed Xinti.

When he bore witness to the hint of pleasure and superiority that flashed across Jash’s face as he kicked a young girl in the stomach, Yaan finally cut off any feelings of mercy towards Jash. In fact, the more Yaan observed these people, the more he saw of the corruption that was steadily seeping into their vicious souls. Unknowingly, Yaan’s worldview was slowly becoming increasingly warped by the cruel reality of this world.

Another 3 months flew by. Yaan continued to observe the targets each and everyday. Unknowingly, his 7th birthday passed by, yet his mindset had strayed far from any ordinary seven year old’s.

“Humans…are any of them really deserving of my protection in the first place? Could it be that given the right circumstances, everyone is capable of becoming like those vile people? Humans…perhaps, all of us have the potential to become hateful creatures.”

Yaan thought this as he stared at Jash. The boy he once knew had become a complete stranger to Yaan. Currently, he was boasting and acting arrogantly in front of the new children who arrived a week prior in Zong Village. His gaze that used to stare at Jash with malice and ill intent, was now empty and numb.

Towards Jash, Yaan felt that he was somewhat pitiful. He had grown content with his position of authority, forgetting that he himself had once been a scared little child like those he now beat down without a shred of mercy. Not only that, but he accepted his position under Xinti whole heartedly, even convincing himself that Xinti was actually in the right due to his status as a Qi master.

Yaan tore his eyes away from the depressing scene and silently ventured into the woods once again. Tonight, everything would change. Tonight was the night that he would finally kill Xinti.

He spent the day sharpening the blade of a weapon that he crafted himself from a sharp stone. It was just a basic knife, but it would be enough to kill Xinti, whilst something like this couldn’t be traced back to him.

After felling a few trees and dragging back the lumber, Yaan acted as normal in front of Xinti. Hidden in his gaze though, lingered a ray of killing intent.

He waited until night had long since set in and the world was at its darkest. The crescent moon hung high in the sky, only barely illuminating the faint mist that hung over Zong Village down below. After counting down the time, Yaan’s eyes shone with a cold light. He grabbed his knife, then silently left his home. He made sure that nobody was watching, setting off towards the centre of the village, towards Xinti’s abode.

Xinti’s residence was far more luxurious than any other building in the village. The craftsmanship was clearly a level above the rest, whilst the wooden building encompassed multiple rooms for his convenience. Yaan expertly headed towards the rear of the building, where a window was left hanging open carelessly.

These summer nights were warm, hence Xinti always left his window wide open, not even considering the possibility that one of those children he deemed trash would dare to target him.

Yaan peered in through the window cautiously. On seeing the large body and hearing his oblivious snoring, he slipped through the open window and stood above Xinti’s bed with the knife in hand. Yaan’s silhouette was cold and ominous, like a spectre of death lingering above its prey.

Seeing the inside of this room up close only increased Yaan’s desire to kill this fatty. Whilst the rest of them lived in poverty and squalor, Xinti slept comfortably on a wide cotton mattress, adorned with rich embroidery to match his clothing and other furnishings. Other expensive looking ornaments that Yaan couldn’t even identify could also be seen, but he ignored all of this and focussed only on the task at hand.

He tried to remain calm and collected, but his heart started racing violently as the grim reality of his plan set in. He grasped the knife in two hands, taking a step closer to Xinti nervously whilst his body trembled slightly from the fright.

Yaan swallowed heavily, then showed a determined look as he leapt forwards with a crazed expression.

Chi!

There was no error in his strike. He was all too aware that he needed to get it right on the first try, so he had been practicing his knife wielding skills in the dark forest.

The knife pierced directly into Xinti's throat. Yaan stood there, staring blankly for a moment.

“Kuh…” Xinti’s eyes shot open, making Yaan jump back in fright. The confused young man tried to stand, but after Yaan removed the knife, the blood spurted out from his neck like a broken faucet. Xinti managed to take a single step before his blood pressure dropped and he collapsed to the floor.

Thud!

His body hit the floor with a thump, then twitched for a few moments before becoming motionless.

“I, I kill-”

“Xinti, are you-!”

“Huh?!”

The door suddenly burst open, frightening Yaan into crying out. He was seriously on edge right now, so the shock led to him rashly slashing towards the direction of the sudden noise and movement.

He stared forwards with wide eyes as a girl stared back at him in shock. He felt mortified as he lowered his gaze and saw a red line appear around her throat.

Tss!

He had apparently slashed her jugular, because the blood spurted out audibly. The girl’s eyes rolled back and she fell forwards, almost knocking down Yaan, but finally landing on top of Xinti. A pool of crimson stained the carpet beneath his feet. The entire room was stained in red, creating a stifling feeling that bore down on Yaan’s stunned mind.

“She, she, what was she doing here, I didn’t, ah…” Yaan felt disoriented as the stench of blood filled the room. He became light headed and stumbled back, grabbing onto the windowsill as he tried to process the unexpected sequence of events.

The girl was Xinti’s plaything, but she didn’t usually stay around his home this late! Yaan calculated that she absolutely wouldn’t be here this night, yet here she was…

And he killed her on reflex without thinking.

“I, I need to go…” He muttered to himself, staring at the two corpses even as he climbed out from the window.

When he got outside, Yaan turned away and ran. In his shock he felt lost, but after turning away from that horrible scene, he remembered his original plan and grit his teeth.

‘To the forest!’ He sprinted away at his highest speed.

His figure blurred silently through the village in the dead of night, unbeknownst to those slumbering that a killer was passing them by.

Yaan didn’t stop until he reached the forest, and even then he continued running. He ran and ran, all the way until he reached the stream two miles away. As soon as he reached this stream, Yaan threw in the knife without a second thought. This had been his plan all along, to dispose of the murder weapon after doing the deed.

“Hugh…”

He fell to his knees and threw up, then continued to dry heave for half an hour after. His eyes were now burning and his throat was dry, but all Yaan could think of was his earlier sinful actions, actions that he had once deemed as being ‘evil’.

Yaan didn’t intend to kill the girl. He only planned to kill Xinti, but she surprised him and he acted on reflex. He realised that on this day, he killed an innocent person…perhaps he had crossed a line that he could never come back from.

When he finally stood, his legs were shaking. He retreated a hundred feet from the river, then stopped before a wooden bowl that he filled the day before. Yaan thoughtlessly stripped off his clothing, then began washing the rags to remove the bloodstains.

The more blood he saw soak into the clear water, dying it with a crimson taint, the more his hands shook unsteadily.

In truth, what bothered Yaan the most about this situation wasn’t actually the fact that he had killed. He wasn’t most distraught by the fact that the plan had gone wrong, causing him to slaughter an ‘innocent’ girl.

Rather, what left Yaan feeling the most disgusted in himself, was the perverse sense of pleasure he had felt back there. Seeing Xinti’s final confused and fearful expression had actually made him feel happy. He felt powerful, that he, a small mortal child, managed to cut down an almighty Qi master!

Yaan knew that this was wrong. He hadn’t done anything good, so why did he feel a sense of euphoria amidst the fear and guilt?

Worse yet, he felt a desire to kill even more. He quickly realised that this must be due to the Fiend Transformation and the slaughter aura that he absorbed after proactively killing two people of his own free will.

Knowing that it would be bad to let this feeling escalate any further, Yaan calmed his breathing and closed his eyes. He hung up his washed clothes to dry, then sat down and lay against a nearby tree. He tried to clear his mind of all thoughts, with the idea that he couldn’t have malicious thoughts if his mind was free from thought itself.

This actually worked somewhat, though he struggled for the following hour to remain calm as he purged his mind. He continued to sit silently until the daylight rose up once again, light that could barely be seen through the thick foliage in the dark forest.

After opening his eyes, it was clear that Yaan had finally calmed himself down slightly. He still felt a bit nervous and nauseated when thinking back on his prior actions, but at least that bloodthirsty feeling from before had been entirely suppressed.

He didn’t head back to the village just yet, despite knowing that Xinti’s death would soon be discovered. His plan was to continue as usual, chopping down trees and dragging back the lumber, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. This way, people would hopefully assume that he had headed out to work early in the morning just like always. It was unlikely that Xinti’s corpse would have been discovered earlier than his usual departure time, so any suspicion around him would be dispelled before it was even conceived.

With a deep sigh, Yaan forcefully calmed his nerves. It took a while before he was able to stop trembling, but he knew that he needed to return to his usual self. Right...everything was going to be ok.