“Go ahead,” the eccentric discarded his misgivings and readily agreed.
The Elder Devil was assured by his response and promptly held his hands in an incantation gesture as faint black Qi surged from his body and engulfed him.
Soon after, a low roar sounded out and a two-headed four-armed figure made an appearance from within. His body was ten meters tall and emitted a shocking quantity of baleful Qi, enough to make the eccentric take a few steps back.
Closely after, the Elder Devil let out a gloomy incantation and his four scaled arms formed a spell gesture, causing the black Qi to shift around him like a devil god.
The eccentric carefully watched his surroundings before focusing his gaze on the two-headed wolf.
After the time it took to finish a cup of tea, the Elder Devil ceased his incantations and spat out a ball of black-red blood essence. At that same moment, he raised his arms and released four black spell seals into it.
The blood essence took the shape of some strange pattern before disappearing.
In a short moment, the blood pattern curiously warped in front of the black wolf head and the horn flashed with light. Then, the head’s eyes began to stir and slowly open to reveal dazzling purple light. It was as if it had two blazing stars for eyes.
Unbeknownst to them both, at this same moment, a silver box shined inside the palace in a nearby sealed space. It seemed to have been awakened. Above it, there was a half foot tall emerald-green ruler slowly revolving in the air. It emitted a spiritual light that covered the box down below.
Chapter 1021: Spiritfuse
The wooden ruler floating above the silver box was covered it in a barrier of green light. Then in a flash, the light completely faded away.
Strangely enough, there was a man standing motionlessly over thirty meters away.
He wore blue robes, a red headscarf, and had green lines shining from his face. It was the illustrious Grand Elder of the Sacred Poison Sect, Hua Tianqi.
However, his eyes were closed and expression stiff. Blood leaked from his every orifice. Were it not for the faint movements of his chest, he would’ve been mistaken for dead.
As for his other sect members, they were nowhere in sight.
However, the sounds of a faint explosion could be heard in the distance as if someone was trapped by a restriction.
In the other space, the purple light that shone from the black wolf head’s eyes had disappeared, and a woman’s sweet voice rang out, the very same one that had spoken on the day Xiang Zhili was trapped, but this time with a hint of iciness and much more crude, “Bloodflame, it was you. I believed you to have already returned. I didn’t expect you to remain in this world.”
The Elder Devil respectfully replied, “I pay my respects, Senior. I had taken action too late in the past and had nearly been destroyed. Were it not for my understanding of the passageway between the holy and the mortal realm, and their intent to draw out my soul and interrogate me, I wouldn’t have lived until now.”
The wolf head remained indifferent when it heard this and nodded, “Oh, your luck is quite good then. The passage through that Spirit Ether Garden’s spatial tear we used had already been destroyed by the time we wished to return and we had no way back.”
The large-headed eccentric calmly listened from the side, inwardly surprised at the lack of any devilish characteristics from the feminine voice. ‘This is the Elder Devil that nearly exterminated the ancient cultivators in the past?’
The head then lowered to the black chains binding it and said, “Since you’ve come here, you should have a plan. But I must first warn you that rescuing me will not be so trivial. Your cultivation will not be enough to destroy even the Heavenly Star Chains binding me. It is a treasure passed down from the spirit realm specifically meant to deal with our kind.”
“Be at ease, Sacred Ancestor! I’ve made full preparations before coming. Not only will Fellow Daoist Ye be assisting us, but I’ve gathered many devilish artifacts to assist.”
The black wolf shook its head, “You might be able to break through the chains, but even so, I cannot have you immediately take action.”
“Why is that?” The Elder Devil betrayed surprise from his face, eyes brimming with purple and red light. The eccentric was also surprised.
The head sighed, “It’s quite simple, the star chains aren’t the most powerful restriction here. Take a look at where you’re standing.”
“Where... are standing?” The Elder Devil and the eccentric bewilderedly turned their attention to their feet and only saw the black teleportation formation and nothing else.
The head turned to look at its still asleep silver wolf head with a grave expression. “Do you believe I can leave this place as I wish? The Divine Spirit Treasure on the eighth floor will immediately activate should I make an attempt. And if you perform any exceeding actions, the treasure will immediately teleport you away, preventing you from easily coming back. In addition, the main reason I was trapped here in the first place was because of this troublesome Silvermoon Wolf body.”
They both looked at the slumbering silver wolf head and suddenly came to a faint realization.
The Elder Devil hesitantly asked, “In the past, wasn’t that wolf’s primal soul consumed by the Sacred Ancestor? Could it be that something happened?”
The black wolf head annoyedly snorted, “When I possessed this body, there were two primal souls. I gravely injured one and it escaped, leading me to believe that I would be unbothered. As for the other, it used a secret technique to hide someplace in the body. When I was in the crucial point of the battle against the Three Masters of Kunwu, it suddenly counterattacked and I was defeated, leading me to become sealed.”
“Two primal souls? A single body with two souls!?” The eccentric couldn't help but cry out in shock.
“You humans sure know a lot. This body possessed two entirely independent souls. Originally, there was only one, but when the second made an appearance, the first soul came and fought against me for control over the body. The wolf’s cultivation art was also truly strange. I possessed this body for such a long time and never noticed anything amiss,” she muttered with a puzzled tone.
“Could it be that the second wolf’s soul still exists?”
“Of course. When the humans captured me, I came to realize that this Silvermoon Wolf was actually the concubine of one of the Spirit Realm’s Demon Monarchs, the Divine Wolf Celestial Kui. She was also one of the few demons to descend into the mortal realm in their true body. I was only able to easily take control because it was still weak from its descent into the moral realm. Had the wolf been at the peak of its cultivation, a soul fragment like me wouldn’t have been close to successful, and the existence of its two souls had left me completely off guard. But at the time, I had already possessed the body for a few years and corrupted most of it. The humans were no longer able to expel me and didn’t dare to rashly exterminate me along with the body. As a result, they could only seal me inside the Devil Suppressing Pagoda.”
The Elder Devil managed to retain most of his calm, but the eccentric was left flabbergasted.
“From that, you mean to say that the second wolf soul still exists in that body?” The Elder Devil bitterly laughed and stared at the silver wolf head.
The head sweetly chuckled, “It is no longer there, but in a moment, she should be coming back. You were quite lucky that I was in control when you woke me up.”
“Sacred Ancestor, what do you mean?” The Elder Devil felt his heart tremble.
“It is quite simple. At the time, the ancient cultivators used the Blackwind Flag to seal me in this spiritless land and intentionally extracted the second wolf’s soul. Then, sparing no effort, they constructed a palace hall brimming with spiritual Qi for her. As a result, the soul would attempt to fight me over control of this body every so often. When she exhausts herself, she would return and recover her strength. Because I am sealed here and can only rely on the devilish Qi within my body to res
ist her, I found myself at a great disadvantage. In order to retain control, I had no choice but to use the Greater Spiritfuse Arts.”
“What, the Spiritfuse Arts? You’re already...” The Elder Devil’s four eyes twisted in shock, momentarily forgetting to speak with a respectful tone.
“That’s right, I fused souls with her to form an entirely new one. Her soul served as the base and I was second. But at the start, the newly fused soul was unstable and when they saw this new soul, they were unable to recognize what had happened. Because they couldn’t verify her identity, they also couldn't release the seal. Those cultivators didn’t dare to take action due to her status and rashly sealed the entire mountain. As a result, our souls ended up strangely sealed together. Now that over ten thousand years have passed, the fusion of our souls stabilized into a fine result. But over the past few days, the other half stealthily submerged a Deity Transformation stage cultivator into Phantasmic Air, causing our soul to weaken and divide once more. However, I reckon that this will be the last time the split will occur. After it is replenished with spiritual Qi from the palace on the other side, our souls will become one.”
As the black wolf head spoke, she maintained a calm tone.
The other two, however, were at a loss for words.
The Elder Devil was mute for a long while before letting out a bitter laugh, “Great Sacred Ancestor, are you the new soul of a demon, or are you still a member of our holy race?”
The wolf head indifferently replied, “What do you mean?”
The Elder Devil could only remain silent.
After a moment of thought, the eccentric said, “Since you’ve given us such a detailed explanation, you should have a method to stop your counterpart. Please don’t hesitate to speak.”
Purple light flashed from the wolf’s eyes and said, “Oh, I still haven’t asked why a human like you is assisting Bloodflame? I see that you’ve used up most of your lifespan and death is soon approaching. Could it be you wish for me to infuse you with devilish Qi?”
At that moment, a sinister expression appeared on the eccentric’s face, “Since you’ve seen through me, I won’t conceal this any longer. I would rather tread the Devil Dao for an eternity than perish from age and have my thousand years of bitter cultivation and bloody battles be for naught. Could it be you would have me subject myself to the cycle of life?”
Chapter 1022: Reappearance of Essence Light
The black wolf head glanced at the eccentric, “Your words are quite forthcoming and bold. Since you have already resolved yourself, if you assist in my escape, I will infuse devilish Qi into your body. I’ll get the ugly talk out of the way, you will only have a fifty percent chance of success with your aptitude. But even then, the infusion of devilish Qi should extend your lifespan greatly, as our race’s longevity is far superior to a mere humans. This will grant you another opportunity to ascend to Deity Transformation stage.”
The large-headed eccentric let out a wild roar of laughter, “Only fifty percent? I’d still take the risk if it was only a tenth. Go ahead and tell me what it will take to free you.”
“I will get straight to the point. At my current stage of the spiritfuse, I will be unable to resist the rejoining of our souls once the other soul re-enters my body. The only way to stop this is to exterminate it. It is located in a Grand Execution Formation that the Three Kunwu Masters had personally placed down, consisting of eighty-one devil executing sabers. If devilish Qi approaches, the blades will create a formation of overwhelming power. Bloodflame will not be able to break through. Although your cultivation art isn’t Righteous or Buddhist, it isn’t devilish either. We must leave the extermination of the wolf soul over to you. So long as you fulfill this task, the matter of your devil infusion will be taken care of.” The head’s voice completely changed and was now filled with an enticing tone, causing the eccentric’s expression to waver.
A moment later, he grit his teeth, giving up any intention of negotiation, and asked, “Where is it located?”
“Fellow Daoist Ye is quite smart! There should’ve been two formations from where you came. The other one will lead you to the wolf soul.
“The Sacred Poison Sect Elders should’ve already been there. This will be troublesome. However, if I were to catch them unaware, it should be easy to deal with them. I will hurry and return.” He clasped his hands in an incantation gesture and disappeared with a flash from the formation.
Only the Elder Devil Bloodflame had remained.
After the eccentric disappeared, wolf’s eyes grew dim and an eerie aura emitted from its body. The chains around it began to hum as countless beams of black began to shine through them. With an entirely indifferent manner, the head said, “In the presence of the cultivator, I found it inappropriate to ask about the artifacts you managed to recover.”
The Elder Devil bowed and respectfully said, “Sacred Ancestor, I’ve already found five that our race left behind in the mortal realm.”
The wolf head sinisterly said, “That will have to make do. Immediately take them out. Although I can only control half of the magic power in this body, I will be able to break free of the Blackwind Flag’s restrictions if I struggle. Even with a Divine Spirit Treasure, it cannot restrain me without a master.”
“Yes,” the Elder Devil hastily waved his arms, summoning a black devilish artifact into each of his hands: a black mirror, a blood-red authority token, a jade lotus, and a grey and jade band.
For the fifth, he widely opened his mouth and spat a small bottle.
The five artifacts immediately spun around his head ceaselessly.
The Elder Devil let out a long whistle and black light wildly shone from his body. The artifacts trembled and rapidly shot into the air.
The restrictions immediately sensed this and bright light brilliantly filled the air with life.
...
Han Li stood at the gates of Kunwu Hall and was looking past it with a curious face.
“Greatnorth Essence Lights... Who could’ve thought that they’d appear here,” Han Li muttered. The dense mass of winding silver strings was certainly the same as what he saw in Devilfall Valley. However, these lights weren’t connected to any rocks and instead emerged from the dense pillars of the hall. It appeared to hide the interior from sight.
Han Li could hear wild and furious laughter from behind.
“Brother Han, do you plan on taking the initiative to plunge into the Greatnorth Essence Light, or will you wait and have us greet you with our weapons?” It was the voice of Old Devil Qian.
Han Li frowned and turned around.
He saw that only a dozen trees remained from the columns of Goldweight Spirit Trees leading up to the gate. Old Devil Qian and the others had nearly caught up.
As they were using their treasures to chop down the last of the trees, they watched Han Li with various expressions.
The demons had known about the Greatnorth Essence Lights from the very start, and the others had immediately recognized what they were from a distance.
The atmosphere was a mix of worry and joy.
On one hand, Han Li wouldn’t be able to progress further. But on the other, it would be an equally impossible task for them as well.
Nevertheless, Old Devil Qian’s intermittent voice was howling with erratically.
The Greatnorth Essence Light would prove a dead end to cultivators caught unprepared. It was no wonder the old devil was basking in schadenfreude.
Han Li scoffed and turned around, slapping his storage pouch to produce a jet-black ring. It revolved once around him before expanding to three meters wide.
Talisman characters roamed across the surface. It was none other than one of the Heaven-Earth Rings[1].
[1] Previously known as the Yin Yang Rings. Han Li used one to move through Devilfall Valley with Marquis Nanlong.
Han Li pointed at the huge ring and willed it forward. At the same time, he quickly struck it with a spell seal and had it cover him in a black barrier.<
br />
When this happened, Old Devil Qian’s wild laughter came to an abrupt stop and all the others wore an expression of disbelief.
‘How could he possibly have a method to travel through the Greatnorth Essence Light!’ As the thought flashed through their minds, they continued to strike at the Goldweight Spirit Trees with renewed vigor.
Then, they witnessed his figure blur as he rushed through the dense bundle of silver light, which twisted around him.
Those present all looked at each other with dismay.
“Faster, we can’t have him take the treasure!” The Silver-winged Nightfiend was roused with shock and yelled with an ugly grimace.
“Even if we act faster, what is the point? The light is blocking our way,” Ge Tianhao spoke with an ashen complexion.
Old Devil Qian scoffed, “Greatnorth Essence Lights won’t block me!” The five cinque devils converged into one huge white figure and suddenly leapt forward without any mind of the remaining trees.
“Grand Elder, you...” Ge Tianhao and the others gasped.
Just as the white silhouette entered the range of the trees, a huge pressure suddenly pressed down on it and slowed it in its tracks.
“HAH!” The thundering roar sounded out from the white silhouette, and all of its light faded away before a crimson copy suddenly shot out. It had only fallen to the ground after flying over thirty meters.
The crimson silhouette trembled as it walked towards the hall at a leisurely pace.
The scene left the others bewildered.
The Silver-winged Nightfiend sent a voice transmission to the horned woman, “Now that we’ve arrived, it is time for Fellow Daoist Gui to make use of her abilities. Let’s take action now. We cannot allow those medallions to fall into their hands!”
The horned woman nodded and her entire body flashed with white light as she leaped into the air. Then in alternating pulses of black and white, she took the form of a ten-meter-tall tortoise and charged forward.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 552