The poorest member of the Imperial Guard, the Empress begged me to embezzle.

"Where did you learn your demonic magic?"

Faced with Ye Wujiang's question, Chu Xiu, though unable to sense whether his words carried any other dangerous undertones, still chose to conceal the truth about the Butterfly Queen's gift.

"It is indeed the Heaven-Slaying Arrow, a technique recorded in one of the scrolls I obtained in that mysterious space within the secret realm."

"But... demonic magic? What's that?"

Ye Wujiang gave Chu Xiu a deep look: "I didn't expect that a human like you would have the bloodline of a demon and be able to use demonic arts. That's remarkable."

He looked up at the sky, as if recalling something: "The so-called demon god refers to the strongest demon race that was active in the ancient times, and can be said to be the number one demon under all the divine beasts."

"After the ancient era, the divine beasts went into seclusion and did not emerge from the world. The demon race became a weak race without the protection of top experts. In order to ensure the continuation of the demon race, Lu Wu, a divine beast that had been granted a divine status by the ancient Heavenly Court, chose to give up his divine status and enter the world. Thus, the demon god was born."

"The Heaven-Slaying Arrow you unleashed was created by the Demon God Lu Wu."

"Like Lu Wu, the Yinglong clan did not choose to live in seclusion and remained in the demon realm. Therefore, it is normal that they have passed on their demon secret techniques to you."

Chu Xiu feigned sudden realization and said, "So that's how it is."

Fortunately, Long Xue, who had received the Yinglong inheritance along with him, had been knocked unconscious by him due to emotional fluctuations, so no one could expose him at this moment.

"Your demonic magic is fine to use in the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Continents, and very few people can recognize its origin. But if you ever go to the Demon Realm, unless you are confident that you can kill your enemy, do not show it to others easily, or you will easily invite disaster!"

Ye Wujiang patted Chu Xiu on the shoulder, stood up, and put Princess Longyao's coffin into his spatial ring.

"Where is the Dragon Girl?"

"I was afraid she would be too heartbroken, so I knocked her unconscious and temporarily put her into the ring."

"Hmm... Alright, let's go. Let's continue north to find the other eight scapegoats you need to complete your enlightenment of reincarnation."

Further north lies the Central Plains of the Eastern Continent.

The area is rich in resources and has been a battleground for demons since ancient times, resulting in constant warfare that has never ceased.

Ye Wujiang carried Chu Xiu as they sped through the air, passing over the ruins of various kingdoms, families, and sects.

"This place was once the capital of the Earth Demon Kingdom."

Ye Wujiang stopped and looked down at the ruins below.

"Now it's just a desolate graveyard."

Chu Xiu also looked down.

Compared to the constant sounds of battle and explosions coming from the distance to the north, this place seemed exceptionally quiet.

But beneath the desolate smoke and withered grass, lie countless broken graves and tombstones.

In Chu Xiu's eyes, the continuous death energy emanating from this place was only slightly weaker than that emanating from Princess Long Yao, who had transformed into a corpse demon.

Chu Xiu asked doubtfully, "Isn't this a chaotic place? Why would someone specifically collect the bodies of the dead?"

Ye Wujiang explained, "This is a tradition of the Earth Demon Kingdom."

"In the eyes of the Earth Demon, whether the deceased are close friends and relatives or foreign enemies who invaded the country, after they die, they return to dust and ashes, and there is no more enmity between them."

"Will those whose homes have been invaded collect the bodies of the invaders...?"

Chu Xiu gazed at the countless graves and tombstones, lost in thought.

To be mortal enemies in life, and to die without resentment—what a magnanimous and unrestrained spirit one must possess to do such a thing.

"To die in the eyes of the people of the Earth Demon Kingdom is perhaps more precious than to live..."

Chu Xiu recalled the Rock Demon God inside the Tomb of the Demon God, who was willing to sacrifice himself to entrust him with the Azure Flame Cone, which could break through the Blood Demon Emperor's armor.

In fact, the Rock Demon is a variant of the Earth Demon. The two share the same origin and are therefore very similar in their attitude towards death.

In this world, life is far too cheap.

No one can guarantee that someone will collect their body after they die.

Corpses left to rot in the wilderness, devoured by monsters, or possessed by others are all common occurrences.

But without exception, all of these are blasphemy against death.

Here, Chu Xiu felt for the first time a deep-seated fear of death.

He wasn't afraid of death, but rather afraid that after he died, he wouldn't be able to be laid to rest and his soul wouldn't be able to return to his homeland.

Seeing Chu Xiu staring blankly at the grave and tombstone, Ye Wujiang was taken aback, but immediately understood why Chu Xiu was like this.

"An epiphany... What an outstanding child."

"Another way to describe reincarnation is death and rebirth... Although this place is filled with deathly energy, it is a good place to contemplate life and death."

He had only wanted to take a shortcut, to find a few unlucky people to create opportunities for him to comprehend the cycle of life and death, but now things have become much easier…”

Ye Wujiang did not disturb Chu Xiu. Instead, he descended and looked around. He found a dilapidated tavern and rummaged through the ruins to find an unopened jar of wine. He opened it and smelled the aroma of the wine. His eyes lit up and he drank it down.

Chu Xiu, however, sat suspended in mid-air, closed his eyes, and contemplated the meaning of reincarnation and life and death in this place.

As Ye Wujiang drank, he looked at Chu Xiu with undisguised admiration in his eyes.

Suddenly, he thought of something, waved his hand, took out the coffin of Princess Longyao, who was sealed with a corpse demon, and placed it in the center of the group of graves.

The deathly aura constantly emanating from the coffin added an extremely eerie touch to the scene.

Ye Wujiang, having lived ten lifetimes, believed that he had experienced ten cycles of life and death. He knew that the path to understanding the meaning of death was far more difficult than the path to understanding the meaning of life, which could be grasped through a thousand or ten thousand ways simply by living.

If Chu Xiu hadn't already entered a state of enlightenment, he wouldn't have dared to sit and meditate peacefully where the Corpse Demon was, even if he had ten times the courage.

In the blink of an eye, three days have passed.

Ye Wujiang lay listlessly on a dilapidated roof, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, with several empty wine jars scattered around him.

At this moment, Chu Xiu opened his eyes, his aura surging continuously. Then, the deathly aura surrounding the graves beneath him was drawn by him and swept towards his location.

Upon seeing this, Ye Wujiang suddenly sat up: "This kid actually wants to refine this death energy?"

"Could it be... that he intends to take advantage of this opportune moment, this perfect combination of timing, location, and people, to gain insight into the meaning of death?"

Ye Wujiang's guess was correct; Chu Xiu's thoughts at that moment were exactly the same.

He has come to understand the meaning of death within the concept of life and death in the cycle of reincarnation.

The way of Heaven is always fair. The living can cultivate with their life force and choose to reincarnate when they are seriously injured and cannot be cured. The dead can also cultivate with their death energy and be reborn after death. The same applies to the dead!

Vital energy, that is, the spiritual energy that fills the space between heaven and earth.

Compared to the abundance of vital energy, the production of death energy is extremely scarce, which means that the difficulty of comprehending the two states of life and death is completely different.

Unless he risks being possessed by some lurking powerful beings and goes to some major battlegrounds, Chu Xiu will hardly have another chance in his life to find a good place with such a strong death aura to comprehend the meaning of death.

Even if it exists, it's highly unlikely that it will ever again possess the geographical advantages created by the excellent traditions of the Earth Demon Kingdom.

At that time, the understanding of death he had gained was no different from that of others, so he had no advantage whatsoever.

The deathly aura here, combined with the opportune moment, favorable location, and harmonious human relations, will absolutely help Chu Xiu comprehend a unique and profound understanding of death!

"Chu Xiu! Wait!"

"Don't be so reckless! I haven't even taken Princess Longyao's coffin back yet!"