Evil Mage Cultivation: The Immortal Enslavement Path Chapter 80

He had been planning for this moment since the day he arrived. The second he took over Wu Yaoshi’s body, he understood what talent meant in this world. That’s why he moved to Wu Han as soon as he could, forcing his way up however he could.

If he wanted to accomplish anything, he needed potential that could handle the weight of his power.

Finding a vessel strong enough for his mission was the first real objective. It came before spreading his mana traces, before gathering anything.

Everything started with finding the right body, at least for now.

"You should know by now. I’m not Wu Han. My real name is..."

Han Suwen thought about it for a moment and laughed. Hong Qing waited, desperate for the answer.

"Nope. Not telling you. You don’t deserve that yet."

Where he came from, names meant something. Some beings could use a name to curse you for life.

"But what about all this?" Hong Qing glanced at the ditch where the real Wu Han lay dead. Han Suwen had been talking like him, moving like him, wearing his face.

"Here’s what you need to know. I’m a ghost."

"You’re an immortal spirit?" Her voice went high with shock and wonder.

Then relief. Then excitement. It all made sense now.

He wasn’t just talented, he was a reborn cultivator from a higher level.

Of course he outperformed everyone else.

"What level were you before? Which faction? Did you come from the immortal realm?" The questions tumbled out.

She felt special, like he’d finally let her in on the biggest secret.

Han Suwen laughed again. "No."

He didn’t answer any of it.

"All you need to know right now is this." Han Suwen waved his fingers into a seal and pressed it to her forehead.

The mark absorbed into her skin, sank into her mind.

Unlike the memory edits he’d done on others, the ones that damaged their brains, this one just hid things.

The same spell he’d used on himself during the trial against Wu Wei.

"Your job is to spread the news. Wu Han was killed by Han Suwen."

Hong Qing nodded without hesitation. "I can do that."

"Good girl. That’s why I keep you around." He meant it.

Sometimes a man just needed a woman willing to help him get things done.

She giggled. "Hehe. Still, what do I call you now? Wu Han? Han Suwen?" The name stuck on her tongue as she looked at him.

"Between us? Just call me Han." He chuckled.

It was his first identity in this world, and it felt a little silly.

But he liked it.

"Oh right. You’re much weaker than Luo Lan." Han Suwen adjusted the cocoon around the singularity, stabilized it. He stopped her just before she touched it. If any part of her crossed that event horizon, she’d lose it forever.

Her heart restarted. Color crept back into her face. "W...what is that?"

She couldn’t describe it. The black was so complete it looked like a hole in reality.

The space around it went void, and her mind went blank just looking at it.

"Pretty cool, right?" Han Suwen took his sword and stabbed open his own dantian.

He planted the black hole inside and sealed it shut.

Whoosh.

The Qi in the air, the Qi that used to belong to the old Han Suwen, all of it got sucked into the black hole.

Hong Qing couldn’t sense his cultivation anymore. It had completely vanished.

Did he just destroy the 8th level the former Han Suwen worked so hard for?

Yes. Yes, he did.

Then he pushed the Qi back out.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine!

In an instant, his cultivation jumped from zero to the 9th stage.

"Wow." Hong Qing had no words.

Whatever was happening, she stopped trying to understand it.

She just felt lucky to see it.

As expected from someone of a great bloodline. But this felt like the limit, at least for now. It could go much higher. I could feel it!

Picking a vessel wasn’t as simple as grabbing the strongest one available.

The strongest option without talent was like an old bamboo stalk.

It could hold a lot of rainwater, sure, but it had already reached its full height.

All it could do was wait to fall over.

A young bamboo could still grow. Han Suwen could still grow.

The former owner of this body might have been a lazy lord, but he wouldn’t waste the potential.

He’d already taken Wu Han’s body, which was lazier and worse in every way, and pushed it to the seventh stage of Qi condensation.

Imagine what he could do with real talent.

"But I’m worried about Luo Lan. You know she can see through any lie, right?" Hong Qing’s concern made sense. His magic and deception wouldn’t work on Luo Lan. But he’d already thought of that.

"Let her know. She’ll figure it out anyway."

"Wait, she knows about you?" Jealousy crept into Hong Qing’s voice.

She thought this was their thing.

"Not all of it. If she comes looking for answers, just tell her what happened." Han used a mage hand to loot the bodies around him.

His divine sense picked up three more storage rings, plus the one already on Han Suwen.

Four rings total. Most people only carried one.

Six more to go.

Back when he wore his own artifacts, he’d had ten rings and twice as many bracelets. Each one handcrafted, each one imbued with world-ending magic.

"Will we see each other again?" Hong Qing watched him collect the dead and gather his spoils. Unease gnawed at her. They’d only just gotten to the interesting part, and already he was leaving.

"Work on that needy streak, and maybe you’ll get to see how this ends."

Han didn’t explain further. He stripped the bodies, took everything, and pulled up the location of the Flaming Cloud Sect.

Then he left.

The Flaming Cloud Sect wasn’t exactly a secret.

Everyone knew where to find it. But the mountain range made navigation tricky if you didn’t know the paths.

Lucky for Han Suwen, he could gain that knowledge in an instant just by pulling it from someone else’s head.

Now his mind held the complete map. He knew their personnel, their patrol schedules, their rules and customs. All of it came from an important figure like Yui Hai.

With his new strength, the journey took only an hour.

He stood at their sect entrance, ready.

couldn’t let anyone in unless they got reason.

"Stop right there. State your business." Four guards blocked him, weapons raised.

Han put his hands up. "Relax. I come in peace."

"Who are you? State your purpose or we’ll take you in." The guard’s hand trembled on his weapon.

The whole sect was on edge.

With the murder accusations flying around, every clan and sect had turned hostile.

Visitors weren’t welcome unless they had a good reason.

"My name is Han Suwen."

The guards went quiet. Then the whispers started.

"Han Suwen? The second son of the Han clan?"

"What’s he doing here?"

"Is it war? Has to be a declaration of war, right?"

Panic spread through them.

They imagined doom around every corner.

Why would a great clan send their bloodline to stand at an enemy’s gate unless they meant to make a statement?

The guards’ eyes darted everywhere, searching for hidden masters waiting to strike.

Han Suwen sighed. "I said I come in peace. This isn’t clan business. It’s just me."

They settled down, barely.

"Then why are you here?"

"I want to see your leader. I want to see Feng Zhuo."

Flames exploded from the sky. A ball of fire slammed into the ground not far from where Han stood.

The fire faded, revealing a man with radiant red hair, neatly kept. His body was slender, almost small, but every breath he took carried power. Each exhale pushed flames outward. His limbs looked fragile at first glance, but the muscle underneath was condensed tight, hardened like coiled steel instead of soft flesh.

"Han Suwen. Long time no see." His voice carried pride.

He looked down at Han like he was nothing.

"Not hiding behind your brother anymore. Very good."

From Han Suwen’s memory, this was one of the three. The greatest of their generation.

The strongest, Luo Lan.

The hardest, Han Shi.

The deadliest, Feng Zhuo.

Unlike the other two, Feng Zhuo had a reputation for killing his opponents.

Unless the rules were strict and the referees were watching, nobody dared fight him.

If anything, his reputation undersold him.

Feng Zhuo also killed without reason. He just liked it.

He conjured a ball of fire in his palm and hurled it at Han Suwen.

Han Suwen sneered.

Water coating!

He smacked the fire away with his hand, shimmering Qi coating his skin.

The fireball flew off course and hit a nearby tree, turning it to ash.

The destructive power matched his own fire bolts.

He now processed both the water affinity from Han Suwen’s body and the wind from his contract with Theron.

Feng Zhuo’s smirk widened. "I see you’ve gotten stronger."

Han Suwen smiled back.

Then

"HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

They laughed together.