"Why do you think no one has ever walked this cultivation path before?"
At Yue Ling’s question, Langtian’s brows furrowed in thought.
He stayed silent for a while, sorting through everything he knew.
The first thing that came to mind was the rule in most sects that strictly forbade the consumption of demonic beasts.
In righteous sects, that rule made perfect sense. Demonic beasts were seen as creatures born from chaos and evil. To cultivate by devouring such energy would naturally be considered heretical.
But that logic only applied to the righteous.
Evil sects, on the other hand, had no reason to care about morality. They were infamous for using any means necessary to grow stronger.
The Crimson Blood Sect, for example, cultivated by draining the blood of live human sacrifices. They slaughtered countless villages and thousands of innocent people to obtain their source of blood.
Or the Ten Thousand Corpses Hall—those who created undead puppets from the bodies of fallen cultivators, binding their souls to chains and enslaving them for battle.
And then there was the Hollow Veil Society, a hidden organization that once kidnapped dozens of young boys and girls under the age of five. The children’s bodies were used to create living vessels for cursed artifacts...
These were monsters in human skin—the kind of people who left scars across the cultivation world. They were feared, hunted, and hated by the righteous for generations.
And yet... not a single one of them, as far as Langtian knew, had ever practiced a cultivation method based on consuming demonic beasts.
Not even the worst of them.
That was what confused him the most.
If this cultivation method truly had value... then why hadn’t anyone walked it before?
Why had even the wicked avoided it?
The more Langtian thought about it, the more troubling the answer became.
Then, the only conclusion left was this:
Maybe this path of demonic cultivation... wasn’t actually that great after all. Maybe the evil sects had already tried it, and decided it wasn’t worth pursuing.
After all, there were countless tales of people going mad after consuming demonic beasts—stories of cultivators losing their minds and committing unspeakable atrocities... killing their own allies, their friends, even their loved ones.
So perhaps no one—not even the most power-hungry or ruthless—was willing to trade away their free will and sense of self for such maddening power.
And of course, there was also the problem of Heavenly Tribulation.
When Senior Sister Yue Ling tried to form her core again, she was struck by five rounds of divine thunder from the heavens.
Those who attempted the same path would likely have met the same fate... and perished before they could pass the knowledge on.
With that thought, Langtian turned to Yue Ling and shared everything on his mind.
________________________
"That’s some really good thinking you did there, Junior Brother," Yue Ling smiled, clearly pleased with Langtian’s reasoning.
He had grown into such a smart boy.
"Then... what’s the answer? Please tell me, Senior Sister." Langtian pressed, unable to think of any more explanations on his own.
But to that question, Yue Ling simply shook her head.
"To be honest... I don’t know either," she said with a soft sigh. "It puzzles me too. Why is it that only I seem able to cultivate this way, while everyone else either fails... or dies?"
Langtian’s eyes narrowed in thought.
"Could it be... that you’re special?" he asked.
"Special? Haha. Special how?" Yue Ling let out a dry, bitter laugh. "Well... maybe. I did manage to form my 7th-Grade Golden Core, just like you. But I don’t think that alone explains why this path works for me."
"Yeah..." Langtian nodded, half-agreeing. "Then why?" he murmured.
Yue Ling fell silent for a moment and took a slow, deep breath.
Then she spoke again.
"Even after ten years of being stuck in this place, forced to walk this path... I still don’t have a solid answer. But I do have some guesses."
"Yeah," Yue Ling nodded.
"Langtian," she added softly. "Let me ask you something. Who do you think is more suited for this cultivation path? An evil person... or a good one?"
"Huh? An evil person... or a good one?" Langtian repeated, puzzled. "Is this... some kind of trick question?" he asked.
"No. I’m serious," Yue Ling said quietly.
"Hmmm..." Langtian thought for a while again.
________________________
Humans are, in fact, complicated creatures.
Not all people are evil, and not everyone is entirely good.
Most fall somewhere in between. So it’s difficult to judge what truly counts as good or evil. One person’s justice might be another’s cruelty. A hero in one story might be a villain in another.
But, for the sake of demonstration... let’s simplify things.
Let’s say there are only two kinds of people.
So then, who should be more suited for this demonic cultivation path?
"Well... shouldn’t it be the evil person?" Langtian asked, hesitantly.
"Wrong," Yue Ling said without hesitation.
That made Langtian confused.
"You made a mistake," Yue Ling replied calmly. "You assumed that a demonic cultivation path would naturally suit evil people. But in truth, it’s the opposite. I would say... only good people can walk this path."
Langtian’s brows furrowed.
"What? That makes no sense! Isn’t that the opposite of what it should be?"
"Then... am I nonsense to you?"
Yue Ling let out a short laugh.
Then she leaned in slowly. Her voice dropped lower. Her eyes glowed once again with that dangerous, yet beautiful crimson light.
"Tell me, Langtian... do you think I’m good? Or do you think I’m evil?" she asked.
At that question, Langtian’s breath caught in his throat.
Because in that moment... he felt the conflict deep inside him.
To him, Shangguan Yue Ling wasn’t just good.
She was the kindest person he had ever known. She had saved him, taken care of him, taught him everything, not just cultivation techniques, but also moral principles, ethics, and traditional values.
She was the one who always told him that no matter how poor or how hard life became, one must never go against one’s conscience. That in the end, good would always triumph over evil.
And yet, she was the only one he knew so far capable of walking this demonic path.