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As the founder and perfecter of Devil Alchemy, Konrad's skills in that area stood leagues above that of any other practitioners. Moreover, unlike the rest, he could make use of his Truth and Life Embodiment as well as his Infiniteness Insight to magnify the results. Konrad raised his right hand, causing an eruption of black devil flames to soar from the cauldron. If before, Cacillia merely believed Konrad to be an eccentric deity, the eruption of eldritch energies convinced her otherwise. Something else, something more, something more she couldn't appraise.

"What we cultivate is the Devil Road. In Devil cultivation innate talent is secondary. The foundation is the heart. Without an inflexible Dao Heart, don't even dream of becoming a Devil. At every level, your heart will face challenges. If you wave, at best you will stop breaking through. At worse, your Devil Heart will devour you and turn you into a Loose Devil Puppet.

Such cases are not unheard of."

Konrad explained while summoning two spatial bags containing all the male Devas, Nature Spirits, Naga and Moon Spirit Slaves at his disposal. The two bags hovered above the cauldron whose billowing black flames brushed it from below.

"Devil cultivation thrives on the fell. It gathers all vices, negativity and is the most callous, depraved and destructive form of cultivation in the omniverse. Coincidently, it is also the strongest road, and will remain so until someone manages to crush my bridge and establishes a new Firmament Bridge."

As Konrad spoke, the two bags curved so that their openings faced the cauldron's blazing flames. The bags opened, released the first waves of ingredients. To Cacillia's fright, the two bags released waves upon waves of male cultivators, devas and spirits from Sages to half-step Legendary Gods.

A minority had already fallen, but the rest appeared very much alive, as shown by their howls as they tumbled into the flames of the underworld. And though the screams were short-lived, the scene of hundreds of thousands of lives tumbling into a cauldron of billowing black flames shocked Cacillia to the core of her soul, and alarmed, she staggered.

But before she could backpedal, Heide's hand stopped her back, holding her firmly where she stood.

"If you can't even take this, you should forget about remaining my father's disciple and beg him to let you go somewhere far, far away."

Heide declared in a straightforward tone that Konrad didn't contradict. For an instant, Cacillia lowered her head. True, she didn't wish to remain this frail human girl unable to fight back against oppression. True, she held the world in disdain. But unlike Heide, she didn't grow up in the Imperial Jade Palace and didn't possess the chthonian lineage that made everything so much simpler to accept.

Her Forbidden Physique aside, she was a normal person. Normal people didn't just welcome the fall of legions. Her humanity screamed against the ongoing deeds. Sensing the inner struggle, while his hands flashed in incantation gestures, and guided the legions of sacrifices' refinement, Konrad chimed in.

"Think about what you wish the most. About your highest aspirations and desires. Then weigh them with the lives falling before you. Ask yourself how and why their fall matters to you, and compare it all on the balance of your soul.

If you can't crush their worth, I can give you a way out."

Drinking Konrad's instructions Cacillia closed her eyes and sought within her heart what she yearned for the most. Power, freedom, respect, all swirled within, circling the face of her master and savior. Perhaps because she owed him this second chance at life, perhaps because all those relied on his guidance, perhaps she merely wished to learn all he had to offer, or maybe he was too damn riveting, but Konrad's face became the center of Cacillia's aspirations.

She didn't want to betray his expectations, to let go of the hand that pulled her out of eternal damnation. He...mattered.

But then the echo of those crumbling souls followed, and Cacillia wondered what worth they held. If she didn't witness their fall but hear of it instead, she'd merely heave a sigh of sorrow.

Never would she lose sleep over it. They were unrelated digits whose fates had nothing to do with her. If their sacrifices allowed her to stay closer and longer by her master's side, what did it matter? The side landed on the balance of her soul, and Konrad crushed all the rest. Only he...mattered. And if that made her a monster, so be it!

At that time, a dark-purple seed appeared in Cacillia's heart. But instead of blossoming into a flower, the seed shrank, and with every bit that vanished, dark purple energies filled Cacillia's heart, transforming it into something else, something more:

A Devil Heart!

But as if oblivious to the explosive waves of nefarious energies filling her veins, Cacillia dropped onto the ground and bowed toward Konrad.

"Master, please forgive your disciple for this moment of hesitation. Your disciple swears to live and die only by you!"

Cacillia pledged before smacking her head in a kowtow. But before her forehead reached the ground, and irresistible force stopped it, and lifted her back up.

"Who wants you to die? I want you to live well. To live a radiant and splendid life stretching throughout eternity."

Konrad replied while turning the sacrifices into medicinal properties and compacting it all within the swirling devil flames to produce a batch of pills. Heide stared at the refining process with rapt attention, taking mental notes of her father's flame and energy manipulations to better her own skills.

Meanwhile, Cacillia straightened her back, and as she stared at Konrad, she couldn't help but smile in a slightly foolish-looking grin while her cheeks flushed red.

*Humph*

Heide snorted while keeping her eyes fixed on Konrad's refining techniques.

"That junior sister is indeed dangerous. If I'm not careful, she might beat me to the supreme prize! I must redouble my efforts."

Heide inwardly pledged. The refining reached a critical moment, and to magnify the result ten-thousand folds, Konrad injected the highest concentration of Truth, Life, and Infiniteness at his disposal!

*BOOOM*

The billowing black flames shrank back into the cauldron which released one ringing explosion. Black smoke now soared toward the ceiling, and from that smoke, thousands of black pills appeared in the air, hovering above the cauldron in organized rings, and announcing the refining success.

But while the uncultured Cacillia didn't find anything strange in the scene, Heide couldn't believe her eyes.

"12...12540 Grand Devil Pills?

12000 mid-grade, 500 high-grade, and 40 top-grade Grand Devil Pills? Just with that material?"

Heide stammered, unable to comprehend the result. Although hundreds of thousands of lives went into the pill refining, more than 280,000 were Sages, while the Gods numbered less than 6000.

And of those 6000, only 15 stood at the Ancestral-level or above. How could he produce such a staggering amount of Grand Devil pills?

"How astounding!!! Father is indeed almighty. In this world, none can compare to him."

Heide swooned in fangirl mode.