Way of the Devil

The Moonsilver would excrete fine silvery substances which seeped into the skin layers of the modified people. It merged with the person's fats and formed a formidable defensive layer that was as tough as metal.

The most mind-boggling aspect was that Moonsilver tendrils of the modified person could even be strengthened as its host toughened up his or her own body.

The standard strength of the Moonsilver tendrils was 10 times the strength of its host.

With the passage of time, another month had passed.

There were now 13 members of the research society who had their bodies modified.

Half of these 13 members were still in the middle of their revenge plans. The other half had already gotten their revenge. They were now completely a part of the research society.

These modified people had become the core martial force of the research society. The initially leisurely research society slowly became an influential force in the city. They went about investigating Anomalies. They hated evil deeds with a passion, and executed their missions with heartless cruelty. They soon attracted the government's attention.

Many of the research society's members were connected to the high-ranking officials in the government offices in one way or another. Some of them were the children of these very officials.

With such connections, a slight flex of social muscles promptly caused the research society to be listed as an auxiliary department of the government. They were tasked to aid the government in dealing with difficult cases.

In any case, there was a plethora of cultivation methods in this world. The modified people of the research society could indeed be taken as a pugilistic martial artist who had cultivated some sort of special cultivation methods.

Hence, the research society continued to grow as if it was only natural. It even began setting up branches in the towns affiliated with the city.

***

In two short months, the Anomaly Research Society's progress could be described as terrifying.

It began with 13 modified people, the numbers of which spiked to no less than 70. After the success rate of the modification procedure was raised greatly, the research society began seeking out the Anomalies with higher frequency.

Some of the young people from rich families who'd joined the society merely for fun were gradually kicked out of the core circle.

The new core members began with Chen Da, Feng Zhongzheng, Lu Jianhua, and Lu Wei. They established the Punishment Office, Judgement Office, Intelligence Office, and the Supervision Office, respectively.

The Punishment Office was completely comprised of modified people. They were the true armed forces who went out to punish the Anomalies and evil.

To work on a case, the Intelligence Office would first gather and verify the information. After the verification process, they would pass it on to the Judgement Office to mete out the type of punishment and sentence.

Then, the Punishment Office would execute it.

The Supervision Office was also completely comprised of modified people. It mainly supervised the three offices, watching out for signs of betrayal or mutiny.

After the four offices were established, they quickly carried out their functions as usual under Lu Sheng's strong leadership.

Lu Sheng also came up with several implants with Moonsilver as the vector. These implants could be assimilated with the bodies of the modified people.

Some of the implants served to strengthen the body's defensive power, while some amplified its devouring and regenerating abilities.

Some implants could sharpen the host's sight and hearing. Some of them even allowed the host to shapeshift and manipulate their aura.

These implants worked in the same way as external accessories, especially the disguising accessories. When the modified people could alter their outer appearance and aura, they found themselves quickly accepted by the general public.

Their fearless attitude in dealing with Anomaly cases and their successful solving of blood crimes committed by notorious bandits made the people regard them as personifications of justice.

However, nobody knew that the reason behind the modified people's zealous investigations and killing of Anomalies and criminals was to satiate the frenzied urge to devour of the Moonsilver in their bodies.

The cells of Lu Sheng's main body were embedded within the Moonsilver. This gave it a gluttonous urge to devour that bordered on madness.

They would have to devour some living creatures every once in a while to reduce the side effects of the Moonsilver on their nervous systems.

Otherwise, the modified people would experience extreme hunger and become irritable.

With such urges, casualties were unavoidable. However, with the production of new external accessories, coupled with the improvement of the modified people's martial skills, the number of casualties from the killings dropped.

After all, for the modified people, as long as their heads were intact, the Moonsilver within their bodies could swiftly act to stop their bleeding in other parts of their bodies. If they managed to return to the society in time, Lu Sheng could administer treatment and pull them back from the brink of death.

As the modified people grew in numbers, Lu Sheng began training some others in his own surgical techniques. It was not too complicated. After picking certain doctors and pharmacists from among the applicants, they quickly mastered the skill after some training.

The trained doctors soon took over Lu Sheng's job of modifying the members.

In truth, the real difficulty in modifying people was procuring Moonsilver, which was the raw material, and Lu Sheng's cells from his main body.

There was virtually no way that the procedure itself could go wrong.

After all, the so-called modification procedure merely involved stuffing some Moonsilver into an open wound. After closing the wound with the Moonsilver, which was equipped with a formation, in place, it would automatically take the place of a dismembered limb or fill the gaps of the host's wounds, rectifying any defects of the body.

The rest of the procedure depended on the modified person's determination.

The only thing the doctors could do was stitch the various calibrated external accessories the modified people picked according to their liking into their bodies.

Each modified person had their own innate upper limits for modification due to their constitution. Not everyone was suited for every accessory. This required the doctors to inspect their bodies beforehand.

With the passage of time, the research society gained popularity. The modified people did not fear death while facing the Anomalies. With the Moonsilver's support and their own martial skills, they burst out with extremely mind-boggling might.

Once, in an accidental conflict between a modified person and a famed first-rate pugilistic elite, the modified person had unintentionally killed the elite.

After that, the research society's popularity skyrocketed to the peak of Great Song's pugilistic world.

Lu Sheng, on the other hand, after everything was on the right track, finally discovered traces of the Three Sacred Gates during an Anomaly investigation.

***

Within a dark, gloomy patch of a dense forest.

Lu Sheng and a few modified people from the Supervision Office stood within the forest. They gazed at a faraway, dilapidated and abandoned manor.

"The person from the Three Sacred Gates is here?" Lu Sheng asked.

"Yes. After we sent out our message, they replied. They said that they would meet you here," replied a modified person softly.

Lu Sheng nodded. He looked at the manor. He could sense the aura of the Door of Pain from within it.

"Is this their idea of intimidation?" He smiled. The Three Sacred Gates were also opposing the World of Pain. He knew that they were trying to suppress him by unleashing the Pain Origin Qi with the Door of Pain.

"You guys should scatter for now. Wait for me to reappear." Lu Sheng waved his hand. He strode toward the manor.

The other modified people said nothing. They went away silently.

They had no doubts regarding Lu Sheng's strength. A person who managed to produce that many of them could not possibly a person with no strength to truss a chicken.

Lu Sheng slowly made his way up to the manor's doors. A tripoint icon immediately shone in his hand. Three purplish-black dots formed a triangle which hovered in the palm of his right hand.

This was the emblem of the Three Sacred Gates.

As expected, when the emblem appeared, the aura of Pain within the manor dissipated.

With a light creak, a pitch-black old hen walked slowly onto the yard.

"Come in, envoy from the headquarters." A gloomy and hoarse voice of a man came from the old hen.

Lu Sheng nodded, and walked quickly into the manor.

The door slammed shut on its own.

A white fox leapt down from the surrounding wall. The fox's eyes were listless with a certain vicissitude that was difficult to put into words. It was as if the fox was an old person who had lived for countless years. It stared at Lu Sheng silently.

"We've been out of touch with the main sect for too long. To be honest, you can say that the Three Sacred Gates have already broken away from the main sect. What business do you have here today, envoy with the main sect's emblem?" asked the white fox slowly and simply.

"This emblem represents the master of the main sect himself. I hope that we're not thinking of fighting back?" Lu Sheng squinted his eyes.

"It's been several thousand years… If it was before, we might've cooperated with you wholeheartedly when you showed up with the emblem, but things are different now," said the white fox calmly. "Outsider, do not try to disturb our peaceful lives. You should know that even the Mother of Pain turns a blind eye to us."

If they were not in possession of a terrifying weapon of mass destruction which the Three Sacred Spiritual Gates had planted in this planet, Lu Sheng would not bother to waste his time here.

However, the current situation left him no other choice but to persuade them.

"The Three Sacred Gates originated from the Three Sacred Spiritual Gates. Your bloodline and cultivation methods were given to you by the main sect. An agreement has been signed when the sect was founded. Are you two going to break the agreement?"

"You are mistaken in saying that, dear envoy. After the many Devil Disasters and attacks from the Mother of Pain, the Three Sacred Gates is no longer what it once was. We've been reborn from the ashes countless times. We were barely not wiped out during each disaster. We have begged the main sect for assistance before, but where was the main sect then? Every single ounce of strength the Three Sacred Gates currently possess are the fruits of our honest toiling and accumulation. We have long severed our ties with the Three Sacred Spiritual Gates. I'd like to ask you to leave, envoy." The white fox spoke in a calm tone throughout the conversation. It was as if it was merely recounting facts. There were no emotions behind his words.

"Just because the Mother of Pain is leaving you alone now, do you think that she won't attack you forever?" Lu Sheng retorted. "Are you going to wait until a real disaster befalls you to ask for assistance everywhere? If it comes to that…"

"There is no need to frighten us, envoy. Even the Mother of Pain would not dare turn against us," said the white fox drily.

"Alright. Since you're unwilling to cooperate, I'll be taking away the object which the main sect has left behind here." Lu Sheng sighed.

"…" For an instant, the looks in the white fox's and black hen's eyes changed.

"What? That's the ultimate move the main sect has left behind on this planet. It's not something that you can create through your hard work and accumulation. Now that I'm here, you're merely returning it to its rightful owner," Lu Sheng said with squinted eyes.

"That thing's ours." The white fox tried hard to fight back his emotions, but the air around him started to freeze over.

"If we hadn't protected it well, it would've been taken away by the Mother of Pain a long time ago! So, it no longer belongs to the main sect…" Its voice was hushed and strained.

Lu Sheng narrowed his eyes and stared silently at the white fox.

"Are you saying that you're going against an order?"

"An order?" The white fox suddenly smiled. "We've never received any order, how're we supposed to go against it?" A huge and delicate bronze mirror dome slowly materialized behind it.

Seemingly at the same time, exquisite bronze mirrors appeared all over the manor's walls and in the air.

These bronze mirrors resembled ordinary mirrors used on dressing tables. They were aimed at Lu Sheng, who stood at the center. The reflections in the mirrors were somehow contorted.

"Hiss…"

The space around Lu Sheng moved instantly.

He had been surrounded by the scenery of the manor before this, but the scenery seemed to be torn away like a wallpaper. In its place was a barren wasteland in a valley.

Around the wasteland in the valley.

In the air, grayish-white specters surrounded Lu Sheng. They howled like suffering souls as they pulled their tails that trailed behind them like rags as they danced in the air.

In the distance, a huge wave of innumerable white specters was charging forth like the tide.

"Evil Spirits?" Lu Sheng broke into a grin. He raised his right arm.

"Pchht! Pchht! Pchht! Pchht!"

Lu Sheng grew bigger in an instant. The Blood Flesh Basic Disc which was dozens of meters tall surfaced behind him. Flesh and blood flew out of it and covered the surface of his body like countless tendrils.

A breath later, the tendrils scattered, revealing a monster with a slender body, three faces, and a long tail.

The monster hovered in the air. Its tail resembled a spiked whip and its leathery skin was as smooth as a mirror.

The three faces showed no movements. They resembled metallic masks that were facing different directions.

"Hiss…" A dozen pairs of jumbled arms shot out from the sides of the monster. Every pair of arms wielded two pitch-black curved blades of different designs.

Countless dark red fleshy tendrils blossomed into a big fleshy flower under the monster's feet. The flower supported the monster in the air.

"Die… world… Hahahahahaha!" A maniacal laugh escaped from the fleshy flower under Lu Sheng's feet.

Six shots of glaring golden light burst forth.

Lu Sheng's six eyes slowly opened. They stared at the immense wave of incoming Evil Spirits.