Reverend Insanity: Depravity

The sky was daunting as innumerable clouds blocked the sun's gracious light. A gloomy aura permeated through the air as a person stood on top of a mountain of corpses.

It was a man. His robes were tattered, his appearance was disheveled, yet his posture had a certain dignity that did not match his looks.

The man suddenly took off the hood of his robe, revealing an elegant face underneath. He had black, lustrous hair and a dark complexion, his eyes shone with profundity and ridicule as he stared at the sky.

He looked down at the pile of corpses that surrounded him. This used to be an area of sea, but it was riddled with so many corpses that it had formed a small island.

He closed his eyes, and spoke: "Oh, Heavenly Court, for what purpose must you hide from me?"

Immediately after he spoke, a golden light surrounded the area, revealing a group of people behind the person.

These people stood tall and upright, their robes were majestic and each and every one of them exuded an aura of authority. They held looks of disdain as they looked down on the man.

One certain person among the group had an aura that loomed over the others, it was so domineering that it had immediately cleared the gloomy atmosphere that was present before. Naturally, he was the leader of the group.

"Hmph, don't act so pitiful now. You've wreaked havoc across Eastern Sea and Central Continent, killing millions of people, yet you're acting like this? Heh, a demon is a lowly demon even until the end."

The other people followed suit and sneered at the person down below. It seems this man wasnt so ordinary after all.

Behind the leader, countless shouts were heard as they cursed at the man.

"Yi Shen, 400 years ago you killed my entire sect just for refinement materials. I've endured and kept this hatred hidden within me for the past few centuries. Today, my wish has been answered, I'll finally be able to tear you into shreds!"

"Old Ghost, you slaughtered countless of my descendants, and even killed my wife. If I don't kill you today, then I won't be surnamed Jian!"

"Bastard Yi Shen, don't even think about escaping today. We have riddled this place with countless Gu Formations. Your death is inevitable!"

"Look around you, all of your pawns have died, leaving you all alone, by yourself. Do not worry, we'll make sure you'll be sent to hell with them!"

Clearly, these people had great enmity with Yi Shen. To have committed such heinous and deplorable acts, it's no surprise why he's in this current situation.

But, even though he was greatly outnumbered, Yi Shen held an expressionless face. He opened his eyes that shone with clarity, seemingly having come to terms with his impending death.

Yet, even with death nearing, he still stood tall and proud. He turned around to face Heavenly Court's Gu Immortals.

"You fools blindly follow the flickering torch known as fate, while my soul burns brightly with its own radiance. Do you really think a trap like this can deter the likes of me?" Yi Shen spoke as a vicious smile formed on his face.

Heavenly Court's Gu Immortals sneered at Yi Shen's provocation, they thought of him as a tiger who had lost all its teeth. But, Xin Wu, the Rank Eight Gu Immortal, thought so otherwise. He was wary against Yi Shen, after all, he was like a cornered beast.

Although Xin Wu was significantly stronger than Yi Shen, it still did not undermine the fact that he was a dangerous individual. If Yi Shen weren't so powerful, then he wouldn't have been able to run rampant so freely until now.

Yi Shen valiantly stared ahead at the group of Gu Immortals. He stretched out his hands, revealing the aura of an Immortal Gu.

Xin Wu observed keenly, 'Yi Shen was severely injured from his previous battles, it's highly unlikely he has much mental power left, but he may have more hidden cards with him.'

Using the Immortal Gu given to him by Heavenly Court, Xin Wu secretly activated a defensive killer move.

With his hands stretched out, Yi Shen lifted them up to sky. The corpses below him reacted, and started shaking violently.

In the sky above, a dark fissure in space had formed. Countless souls flew out of this dark fissure and entered the corpses situated below.

The corpses that were lifeless, somehow mystically came back to life. The corpses stood up as they spoke in confusion.

"Where am I?"

"I thought I had died?"

"Did I come back to life?!"

While these corpses stood confused, Xin Wu had an ashen face. He recognized this killer move of Yi Shen's. After all, this was the killer move that made him gain notoriety.

This was a soul path immortal killer move ー Soul Grudge Army!

The corpses who were talking amongst each other, suddenly stopped. They all moved in unity as they surrounded Heavenly Court's Gu Immortals.

This was Yi Shen's doing. This immortal killer move summoned souls from the Door of Life and Death that had lingering grudges. By commanding these souls to invade corpses, he could create an army of hundreds of Gu Immortals!

Yet, this killer move also had some drawbacks. It expended one's soul foundation greatly, if repeatedly used, then the user's soul would dissipate. But, to Yi Shen, it was a worthy sacrifice.

With an army at his beck and call, Yi Shen issued an order to attack the Gu Immortals.

"Hmph. Is this your final struggle?" Xin Wu spoke with a condescending tone as countless Immortal Gu auras permeated off of him.

He ascended to the sky as his body shone with a golden light. A giant golden hammer formed in the sky as it dropped down to the army.

"This is Lord Xin Wu's famous killer move ー Vajra Spirit Crushing Hammer!

The giant golden hammer descended as it crushed dozens of the reanimated corpses. The souls that had invaded these corpses, had been crushed and disintegrated by the killer move. Yet, the army did not retreat, they pushed forward relentlessly, attacking the Gu Immortals with all their might.

At this moment, an opaque shadow enveloped Yi Shen's body from head to toe.

"Oh no! Quick, don't let him run. That's the killer move he used to escape from multiple rank seven Gu Immortals ー Phantom Ghost!" A Gu Immortal said.

Indeed, a few breaths later, Yi Shen had completely disappeared from everybody's vision.

"Damn demon, using such methods to run away, I won't let you!" One of the Gu Immortals went to chase after him.

Other Gu Immortals followed suite as well. Xin Wu and the rest stayed behind to crush the army of corpses.

...

Yi Shen stood on flat ground, he watched the dark and gloomy clouds rumble with thunder as rain fell down the sky.

Violent winds formed and brushed through the vast forest.

The animals hiding in the bushes all popped up to enjoy the dancing rain.

Yi Shen was an irregularity in this beautiful scenery of nature. His body was riddled with countless wounds that oozed blood, the robes he wore were now tattered. The left side of his face had been completely frozen off, and his right arm was missing.

He took a deep breath of the damp grass, closing his eyes.

He had gone through great trouble to escape the assault of Heavenly Court, even chasing him all the way to Central Continent. His losses were immense, yet he only bought a small amount of time. But, this measly amount of time was extremely precious to him.

Without paying any heed to his fatal injuries, Yi Shen took out an Immortal Gu from his immortal aperture.

This Gu had the appearance of an ordinary caterpillar.

But, its rank seven immortal aura was undeniably real.

Yi Shen stared at this rank seven Immortal Gu with his deep, foggy, black eyes. He thought of something deeply.

He took out a book from his robes. This book was known throughout the five regions. It was <<The Legends of Ren Zu>>. This book is what made him to the person he is today.

'The first time I ever comprehended you, was over seven hundred years ago. To think that such a long time has passed already.' Yi Shen thought.

Humans are complex creatures. They are capable of a vast amounts of emotions. They are social, it is nearly impossible for them to be alone. But, reality is cruel to some individuals.

Yi Shen sneered as he thought inwardly, 'As a mortal, I was not very talented. But, through sheer effort and luck, I was able to rise through the ranks and gain immense power. I was naive back then, I did not know that power came with problems and responsibilities.'

"From then on, that's when I noticed the looks of jealousy that gazed upon me. I was extremely confused, people who I thought were my friends, suddenly gave me the cold shoulder when I didn't give them what they wanted. For the first time, I had truly felt alone. The only person I could ever rely on, was myself. From then on, I vowed to walk down this lonely path; the path of existence." Yi Shen spoke.

"Because of this, I was able to greatly grasp the profundity of Human Path, increasing my comprehension by a great amount."

"After freeing myself from these shackles, I felt free. I no longer had to be 'human', I didn't have to uphold justice, I was no longer binded by these ideologies. I treaded upon a new and dangerous path, yet I had never felt so liberated."

"With this newly-found meaning to life, I established a goal for myself. That is, to unearth and consume all of the secrets this world has to offer. This is what humans do best, giving meaning to life in order to not live a meaningless one."

"Existence itself is inherently meaningless, it is up to us whether we choose to live it out with hope or despair. I conveniently chose the former."

"My life has been nothing but an endless struggle, but that shows that I'm going down the right path."

"Against the colossal mountain known as fate, I am but a speck of dust. Yet, I, the speck of dust, am much greater than fate in my own eyes. If I think of myself inferior to fate, then I will truly become inferior to it."

Human is the spirit of all living beings, Gu are the essence of Heaven and Earth.

In this grand chessboard known as life, what other life form has greater determination than humans?

Yi Shen's life has been centered around calamity and disaster, yet he did not fret over them. He continued to pull through, no matter what was thrown his way.

Because of that, he was able to live and stand unhindered even in the face of adversity.

He stared at the Gu in his hand. This Gu will give him another chance at life, to continue what he couldn't finish.

This Gu was the culmination of his life's experiences, it was all of his pain and grief refined into solid form.

Reincarnation Immortal Gu!

By combining the essence of Human and Soul Path, this Gu was created. It would allow one to reincarnate into another life without any repercussions.

But, this Gu was not all powerful. Yi Shen could not choose who and what he would reincarnate into. It was random.

"Still, even reincarnating as a lowly beast is much better than dying."

With that thought, Yi Shen poured his immortal essence into the Gu.

Reincarnation Immortal Killer Move!

Reincarnation Immortal Gu shone with countless lights. Some resembled resplendance, while others resembled darkness.

Yi Shen's body shook under the influence of the countless lights. His body started to crack under the curtain of light.

Crack, crack.

From within his body, a thin silhouette broke through from the cracked body, and ascended to the sky.

It was Yi Shen's soul.

His physical body had completely cracked and turned into a film of dark miasma. It flew into the sky, covering Yi Shen's soul from any apparent dangers.

The thunder in the sky intensified as lightning striked against Yi Shen's soul. But it was to no avail, the film of dark miasma protected his soul. The lightning strikes continued to fall, even attracting beasts.

Even when being attacked, Yi Shen did not show worry. Rather, it was the opposite. For the first time in hundreds of years, Yi Shen expressed a genuine smile.

"The path of cultivation is long and perilous. Many obstacles have blocked my way. I've felt discouraged, dejected, and helpless. But, I gave myself a slap and continued onward. Even when water drowned the road, when fire consumed it, when thorns riddled it, I did not stop walking. My heart was full of resolve. Now, nothing can obstruct me!"

Yi Shen's soul shone with countless lights, each light depicting the struggles and joy of life. His soul drifted out of the physical world, disappearing from sight.

This old soul, will once again be reborn!