One Wish to Own the World

In a moment of resignation, Atum closed his eyes and accepted his fate, sitting down on the hard cold ground.

"That's the right call. Here, take this."

Ken handed over a grey pill that the seventh-rank alchemist had no trouble recognizing. With a bitter smile, Atum swallowed the Qi Disrupting Pill. The pill rendered him unable to channel Qi inside his body, and it was the base of the Qi Disrupting Smoke Pill he had invented.

As soon as the pill's medicinal effects mixed with his blood, his hardened body relaxed, and only the natural firmness achieved by endless strengthening remained. Although it was impressive, Ken could slice through that.

"Are you going to kill me?" Atum asked in a lifeless voice. It seemed that he accepted the battle's outcome. He simply was unsure of Ken's plans regarding him.

"And give up a seventh-stage servant? With your skills as a seventh-rank alchemist, you could easily fund my cultivation, and my cultivation is costly."

"Huh?" Atum grimaced at the implications of Ken's words. "Do you think you can keep ME on a leash? Do you think you can replicate today's results whenever you want?" Although it would be smarter to keep his mouth shut and scheme silently, he lost his self-restraint momentarily at the weight of the insult.

If Ken was so stupid that he thought he could control a peak seventh-stage cultivator, then Atum's loss would feel even more humiliating than it already did. After all, his only source of comfort was believing Ken was extraordinary.

Meanwhile, Vivi nervously tip-toed to Ken's side, giving him a whiff of her scent. She did not wear perfume, but she kept her body odor pleasant with her Elemental Qi, mainly accentuating her Wood Qi.

"Team Leader, isn't it wrong? I don't want to fight against him again," she whispered.

"Let's discuss it in the cave. We have plenty of time until the pill's effect wears off."

With the inability to control Qi, Atum would die within seconds from his accumulated wounds. Ken had been maintaining the man's life himself as he lifted him from the ground and made him float before them on their way to the main cave.

Most of the other caves were destroyed during their fight, specifically when the demonic cultivator destroyed the Reflecting Formation.

Navigating between the traps that still remained, they made it back to the cave where the beasts and the subordinates waited for them.

"Young Master, congratulations on your victory," the three humans bowed with their fists cupped. Maria had known him for the cruel man he was since she met him, while the other two had also awakened from their misconception that he was a virtuous man.

They all watched as Ken placed their enemy on the ground, unsure what his plan was. He did not let them wait much longer for the answer.

"Today, you will get a new tattoo. I will inscribe a seventh-rank formation called Life-Binding Formation onto your body, using your skin and bones as materials among others. Once I'm done, your life will be connected to that formation. You will stay alive as long as it's unharmed, and you will die once it's destroyed. For your information, I'll be able to destroy it whenever I want. Pick, simple nomad, do you want to serve under me, or do you rather die?"

Atum only needed a moment to contemplate the issue. On one hand, it was a hit to his dignity. On the other hand, Ken did beat him, and he would get to keep his life. Being under Ken would allow him to remain near his captor, which in turn would give him many chances to find out whether Ken found a way to bypass the heavens' laws in Luck cultivation.

It was not even a question; dignity was very low on the priority list of evil cultivators.

"Serve and live," Atum said, clenching his jaws as he imagined the scene of Ken engraving runes into his bones. However, he had no choice now.

"Good. Everyone, stand guard and pick one of the still-standing caves. Leave me here alone with Atum."

Ken knew he had to work fast while keeping Atum on the verge of life and death without taking it too far. The riskiest time was the time of the procedure before Ken held a complete grip over the evil man's life.

"I will stay here to play my Symphony of Peace. It will help you concentrate."

Alaric sat at the corner and his guqin floated above his legs, allowing him to comfortably run his fingers on the strings. He soon closed his eyes and focused on playing the serene piece.

"Amitabha, this monk will take part in guiding this lost lamb."

Henry sat down by the musician's side and emanated his Buddhistic Qi, adding to the tranquilizing effect. Everyone in the room looked at the girls.

"My Charm Qi can only distract you, I'm leaving to cultivate," Tiara shrugged and left. She was feeling the urgency of breaking through to the peak of the sixth stage ever since Ken did. She did not know how long his plan to break through to the Supremacy Phase would take, but she did not agree to stay behind. If there was only a narrow time window, she'd be ready for it when it opened.

"I… I'm a very talkative person, I better go to… cultivate, yes, cultivate," Vivienne chuckled dryly and left, ignoring Alaric's scorning gaze. It was impossible to feel any gaze from Henry, and Ken simply did not care. It was reassuring to see the two men stay behind to help, but he believed he'd be successful whether they aided him or didn't.

"Alright, we don't have much time. If we leave him without Qi for too long he will die with those injuries. Let's start."

He immediately started the operation. With his fingers operating using a sharp needle that could pierce through the demonic cultivator's skin and bones, he injected the ink and the other materials, etching it into the man's body. A three-

dimensional formation started to take form, parts of it on Atum's skin and parts of it on his bones.

Atum grunted in pain, but overall kept his lips sealed. The path of demonic cultivation was far more painful than having an intrusive surgery without anesthetic. He closed his eyes and waited for the procedure to be over, occasionally checking whether he could channel his Qi.

'Laying a seventh-rank formation will take him a whole day. There's no way his pill will last enough time. I only need a split second to attack, and once I do, it will be the end of the road for him.'

As though he could read his new subordinate's mind, Ken raised his head for a moment and placed a grey pill he produced from his storage ring on Atum's lips.

"You can have it as a snack while you are waiting."

Atum gritted his teeth and took the second Qi Disrupting Pill. He hoped Ken wouldn't account for his Alchemy skills and feed him the pill in long gaps, but apparently, his new master didn't make rookie mistakes.

The operation lasted twenty-four hours until it was finally complete, during which Atum was forced to eat four Qi Disrupting Pills. A black and red tattoo could be seen on Atum's skin for a short while before it sank into his body and disappeared. As for Ken, his Qi was depleted and his mind was exhausted. He had to take a long break to replenish his stamina.

"Vivi, come help him heal faster," Ken brought out a token and called for the lazy gal. "As for you, feel free to use your stash of healing pills to stabilize your condition. Remember, I can kill you now any time I want. Don't worry; working for me comes with many benefits and opportunities. I'm sure the day will come that you fear being free."

Atum only snorted in response. He has been an independent cultivator for nearly 200 years now, and he didn't plan on stopping aspiring to be free any time soon.

"How should I refer to you?" Atum asked. He knew that the nickname "Devil's Heir" was no longer appropriate.

"Young Master. That's what all my subordinates call me. For your first merits, I will teach you the recipe for my Impurities Discharging Pill. It's far more effective than what's circulating in the market."

Atum didn't understand it at the time, but it was a verdict. No matter how much he contributes, he will never be part of Ken's core team. His foundation was too deep; Ken would never be able to strengthen him to his team's level. Since that was the case, Ken did not plan to strengthen him at all except for occasional rewards.

Ken left the cave and found another empty one to rest. He played with a wooden token in his hand before placing it in his storage ring.

'That contains a Supremacy-Phase cultivator's life, huh?'

It was linked to the formation in Atum's body. When one breaks, so will the other. If Ken broke the token, Atum would die instantly, and if Atum died, the token would break, informing Ken of his subordinate's death.

It was called the Life Binding Formation due to the binding of life to the token. He did not let Atum know the mechanics behind the formation despite not seeing a disadvantage in that. After all, the less Atum knew, the harder it'd be to plan an escape.

'Well, let's rest.'

Ken fell asleep, ignoring the puppy eyes of the elephant-size fluffy wolf that wanted some attention.