Chapter 1: An ancient...book? Scammed?

Chapter 1: An ancient...book? Scammed?

As usual, the nights of the 4th month were freezing. That was especially so in the Southern Lust City, nudged on the southern edge of the Sacred Lust continent.

Soft moonlight illuminated the night with its inherent beauty, and the silence of the weather was only broken by some stoneflies that chirped and night birds who Koo-cooed. Today's night was no different from other nights of this time—it was cold, and there was a non-stop breeze.

But the cold breeze wasn't an issue to the two people, a youthful woman and a young man, currently perched on their house's roof. They had gotten used to the cold, and even though their breaths puffed, it was an everyday experience.

"Xiao Li, wake up, wake up! In just 10 minutes, you will turn eighteen," called the woman's gentle voice. But the youth, Han Li, just lazily laid on her lap without much interest.

He puffed out some cold air and looked at the sky, his head resting on his mother's thighs. Pondering life.

Eighteen years of age... that was when the others would have their 3rd Awakening, and he was sitting above his house looking at the sky...

It was pretty funny. Even sad in some sense. Since, unlike them, he couldn't even have his first Awakening, not to mention the third. After all, he didn't have a Spark.

Seeing his vacant gaze, his mother, Yue Li, felt her heart ache. She pinched his cheeks gently and asked, "What are you thinking of Xiao Li?"

Han Li turned his gaze to his mother's brownish-black eyes, her face now illuminated by the glow of the moonlight. How... beautiful.

He casually admired her for a second without a word. And then said with irritation, "I am just wondering what kind of gift my stupid mother wasted a whopping 300 Sacred coins on."

That was half of his usual monthly income, the income that they usually delegated for their rather fine lifestyle.

Yue Li shifted her gaze in shame and said with uncertainty, "It was your birthday after all..."

She just couldn't hold back. How can she let her son not have a gift on his birthday? n))O()v/(E..L..b-)I--n

Han Li sighed.

He was grateful for her care, but still... They would have to eat just plain rice and live cheap for the next few days; that was their essential money. Being cheapskates for the next month seems to be the only way now. Or he would have to be lucky enough to get more commissions.

Well, whatever. It was his silly mother, and she was allowed to make mistakes. But still, he could only be ashamed that he couldn't feed her well.

"So, what is the gift? Show me," he asked, curious.

"So you do want a gift!" Yue Li exclaimed, her gloomy mood brightening.

"I never said that." Han Li said with a click of his tongue.

Yue Li smiled, ruffling his black hair, and said with a laugh, "I don't know if it will work, but it is a worthy gamble. If it worked, it would be a big win after all."

Han Li frowned at the words and asked, "Did someone scam you again, Mom?"

It wasn't even a proper gift that she bought for him? Uh...

"No, I was not scammed this time," she said, but even she herself heard the pinch of uncertainty in it, "I took it on purpose to see our luck."

That only made Han Li's face darken; he hated it when someone other than him scammed his mother. And this... stank of a scam.

Yue Li took a small, inconspicuous, ancient-looking, black book from her side and showed it to him. He looked at it and asked, "Is this the gift?"

Yue Li nodded. "The merchant who sold me this said that this book could only be read by the chosen one and that even a fish can become a dragon if they use this, and he even said a Spark-less person might be able to cultivate if they had this. But I couldn't read anything whatsoever. It was all blank. But what if you are the chosen one?"

Han Li didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Wasn't anyone there to tell you not to buy it?"

Yue Li coughed gently. "The Merchant gave it to me covertly since it would be more expensive if more people wanted it. We don't want an auction, right?"

Han Li leaned towards his mother's face. He asked, annoyed, "Do you still remember the Merchant's face?"

"I do! Of course, I do! He is the one who comes whenever the Awakening ceremonies occur. I had seen him many times in the city."

Han Li gently planted a kiss on her forehead and said, "How dare he scam my mom? We will let him know what trouble is."

"You haven't even looked at it, though..." Yue Li said with frustration. "What if it works?"

"Well, if you insist," Han Li took the book from her hands and looked at its cover. It seemed ancient, and the cover was rough to the touch, like a genuinely luxurious product—an impressive scammer.

He flipped to the first page, and his heart immediately skipped a beat: Demon Transformation Sutra. It was written there in bold writing.

"Mom, you said you can't see anything here at all? Can't you see this too?"

He showed her the page, but she only saw a blank yellowed paper, no marks, no letters, nothing. She shook her head. But then, both of their eyes brightened... Jack...

Jackpot?!

"What does it say?!" Yue Li exclaimed and snuggled into his embrace to see the blank page.

Excited himself, Han Li said, his black eyes shining like a dark moon, "Let me read first. I will read it to you afterwards."

He flipped to the next page, and the words there startled him.

"You have thus become The inheritor of me, the Sacred Lust Demon."

Han Li gulped.

He had heard of that name. No, everyone and their mothers had heard of that name. It was the title of one of the Seven Sacred Demons. As said in legends, in the age when life had just started budding, seven great demons ruled the world. And Sacred Lust Demon was one of them.

Even their continent was named after him since he was the one who ruled over it in that prosperous era—Sacred Lust Continent.

Even more excited, Han Li flipped to the next page and read: "The emotion of Lust had always enamored me. From the moment I was born to this day, while I am dying, I have never reached the limits of Lust. I could never attain that apex of Cultivation. So, I relay my inheritance to the future generation; it isn't much, just the way to transform a human body into a body similar to mine. Yet, I hope ye shall reach the apex through this, to surpass and go beyond me. And if you do, don't forget to revive me, your first Master."

Han Li gulped and then looked at the page below, and there it was, written in all its majesty, the full details of the cultivation methods, a corpus full of guidance in the general path of Cultivation, guidance from the Sacred Demon himself, written under one single title: The Demonic Lust Sutra.

The mere prospect made cold sweat matt his back. This was no joke!

He didn't continue to read all that, and for now, he only minded one thing. He had seen other Cultivation Methods in his Starlight Family's library. That made him wonder if this Sutra was actually helpful for him in any way.

All of them usually required him to have a Power Spark inside him, but unfortunately, he didn't, and even for the people who had Sparks, Cultivation Methods only came into use much later in their path—after they became stronger.

What was different in this one?

As far as he knew, a person without a power spark was trash. Can this change that?

However, even if he couldn't cultivate it, he could sell the Sutra for much more money than just 300 coins.

But a faint hope lit up inside his guts.

Maybe... just maybe...

No, it was not faint. It was screaming.

His gaze roamed the pages and soon found out what he was looking for, written under "Requirements of using the method." Clearly and concisely.

Only one person can use the main method of the Demonic Lust Sutra at a time. The Cultivator has to be at least 15 years of age and also a Male. They should not have a Power Spark of any type already inside them; if they do, they have to get rid of it. Only one of the wielders of the 7 Sacred Eyes is capable of seeing the scripture.

Sacred Eyes?

What is that?

And I have that?

Confused, Han Li couldn't believe what he saw and almost felt like he was dreaming. Blankly looking at his mother, he asked, "Who was the merchant you cheated this out of again?"

Yue Li blinked and, seeing his disbelieving expression, exclaimed, "So it is something good? So can it solve your issue with being unable to cultivate now?"

She didn't care for the possible money, and she knew how much he wanted to cultivate. If that happened, she was happy enough.

Han Li didn't answer and instead hugged her tightly; his heart was beating too loudly, and only after feeling the warmth her body emitted could he feel it was all real. This was not a dream!

He could cultivate!

A sutra existed in this world that didn't need a Spark, and it chose him. He even had some kind of unique eyes that even the great Sacred Demon found special.

Han Li looked into his mother's eyes and smiled, a smile of pure hope, a dangerous emotion.

He couldn't even speak clearly in reply due to excitement.

"So your mother is indeed not stupid." Yue Li smiled, ruffling her son's hair; her heart floated at seeing Han Li genuinely happy after a long time.

But she also felt a bit worried.

What if it didn't work in the end? She could only hope it would work.

Nevertheless, seeing him still hug her like an infant and feeling the warm tears streaming down her cold back, Yue Li smiled in his embrace.

Whatever that comes, she could only hope it was for the better.

"Don't worry, your mom is not going anywhere, the hug is too tight, and where are you kissing, not on the nape, you idiot..." she choked out with a laugh.