Chapter 727: Blood-Drop Rebirth (I)
In the Chaotic Star Sea, on Yao Island, occupied by the Evilheart Sect, black mist churned violently within the dense forest at the island's center, a place shrouded in darkness year-round. A terrifying aura spread outward from the island's center, leaving all the other demonic cultivators of the Evilheart Sect trembling with fear.
Kong Yujing swallowed hard and looked toward the imitation Yao Demon Nest. She murmured softly, "With such a terrifying aura, they could not have started fighting again, could they?"
Kong Yujing was not the only one thinking this. The other demonic cultivators shared the same suspicion. The fluctuation of demonic will was simply too powerful and terrifying.
Within the imitation Yao Demon Nest, just outside the central secret chamber, Lin Zheyu pressed his right hand against Cao Hongchang's forehead. Golden energy flowed along his arm and entered Cao Hongchang's sea of consciousness.
Cao Hongchang's face was deathly pale and twisted in agony. Without his control, the imitation Yao Demon Nest began radiating its powerful aura. As Cao Hongchang's suffering intensified, the terrifying energy contained within the nest began churning along with it.
"Your condition is even worse than that of an ordinary Golden Core realm cultivator. The yao will has almost completely fused with your soul. If you wish to remove it, the pain you must endure will be no less than remaining fully conscious while your soul is carved apart by a thousand blades. Your mind may also suffer severe damage in the process. I cannot guarantee that you will retain your sentience afterward," Lin Zheyu warned solemnly, his brows furrowed and his eyes grave.
Although Cao Hongchang appeared no different from a human on the outside, his sea of consciousness was already riddled with damage and had even begun undergoing Yao Transformation. It could scarcely be called a sea of consciousness anymore. His soul no longer resembled that of a human either. Cao Hongchang's soul and the yao will had permeated each other and fused almost completely, transforming into an enormous mass of violet-black soul light.
The mass of light was enormous but highly fragmented, utterly lacking the cohesion of a normal living being's soul. Even Lin Zheyu was startled by the sight of Cao Hongchang's soul. It was truly astonishing that Cao Hongchang could still retain human sentience when his soul form had deteriorated to such a state.
"There is no need to be overly cautious. Do whatever you must." A deep voice came from within the secret chamber. The speaker was the strongest among the hundreds of puppets inside.
Lin Zheyu glanced up at the puppet and chuckled. "Heh, interesting."
The puppet was completely unaffected by what was happening to Cao Hongchang's true body, almost as if it possessed independent sentience.
No. It seems that the sliver of soul hidden within this puppet is Cao Hongchang's true self. It is the key to why he can still retain his sanity despite the state of his sea of consciousness and soul. Lin Zheyu gave the puppet a meaningful glance and smiled faintly. His movements were no longer restrained in the slightest.
Under Lin Zheyu's control, fine strands of golden energy began purging the terrifying yao will from Cao Hongchang's sea of consciousness and soul. The yao will within him was even more powerful than Xu Ruichen's had been, having nearly reached the Nascent Soul realm.
Purging it was considerably more difficult. However, this posed no real challenge to Lin Zheyu. He merely feigned great exertion so that he would have more time to study the secrets of a Nascent Soul realm demonic cultivator. From time to time, he even made a few minor and entirely understandable mistakes, seemingly due to insufficient control.
Inside the secret chamber, the leading puppet merely furrowed its brows slightly at the sight and did not suspect that Lin Zheyu was doing it deliberately. Instead, a remarkably human look of delight appeared in its lifeless eyes. Cao Hongchang could clearly sense the yao will within his true body's sea of consciousness and soul being purged and stripped away bit by bit by a powerful force. Though the process was slow, it continued advancing steadily.
"What kind of natural talent is this? It is simply incredible! If I could also master such an ability, then..." Cao Hongchang murmured softly. He glanced at Lin Zheyu, whose face was somewhat pale and drenched in sweat, then shook his head slightly.
If there was anyone who did not want anything to happen to Lin Zheyu now, Cao Hongchang was undoubtedly one of them. Unless Cao Hongchang intended to completely abandon his cultivation, resign himself to becoming an ordinary person, and never practice demon arts again, there was no chance that the yao will would cease troubling him in the future. Yet after cultivating to his current realm, how could Cao Hongchang ever accept becoming an ordinary man? How would that be any different from death?
Therefore, until he found another means of resolving the yao will within him, Lin Zheyu was the only person capable of doing so. Cao Hongchang wanted nothing to happen to him. Cao Hongchang watched Lin Zheyu conduct the treatment, his heart brimming with joy. Lin Zheyu felt exactly the same. Although his eyes were filled with strain and exhaustion, inwardly he was grinning from ear to ear.
This Cao Hongchang truly is a treasure trove!
Lin Zheyu had always wanted to capture a seven-pattern yao at the Nascent Soul realm for research. Unfortunately, his strength had never been sufficient to fulfill that wish. Although his combat prowess was already comparable to the Nascent Soul realm, he had no means of countering the short-range teleportation of Nascent Soul realm cultivators.
In a true battle to the death, Lin Zheyu simply could not prevent them from escaping. Now, however, Cao Hongchang had given him a sample he could indirectly study as a seven-pattern yao.
As a cultivator of Yao Dao in the Nascent Soul realm, Cao Hongchang's body had already undergone almost complete Yao Transformation. He merely used a secret art to maintain its human form. Internally, however, his sea of consciousness, muscles, skin, membranes, and bones were scarcely any different from those of a yao.
"Interesting, truly interesting... I have long suspected that the reason no spirit or spiritual soul can be found inside a yao is not that yao are unique creatures without souls. Rather, their souls exist in a different form. A yao's soul may have completely fused with its flesh and blood. Only then could it revive even after its body had been shattered and only a fragment remained.
"Yet this somewhat contradicts the fact that a yao's body loses control once its head is severed. I never expected to uncover such an intriguing secret about yao through Cao Hongchang." A gleam of delight flickered deep within Lin Zheyu's eyes.
He had long since pushed his spiritual Heavenly Eye to its limit and was intently studying the secrets within Cao Hongchang's sea of consciousness. He devoted only a small portion of his attention to slowly expelling the yao will from Cao Hongchang's sea of consciousness and soul. As he stripped away and purged the yao will from the sea of consciousness, he made an unexpected discovery.
The amount of yao will integrated into Cao Hongchang's sea of consciousness was almost unimaginable. After completely merging with his sea of consciousness and transforming into yao flesh, it became indistinguishable from ordinary yao flesh. Had Lin Zheyu not discovered an apparently inexhaustible quantity of yao will emerging as he stripped it away and purged it, he would never have noticed what was unusual about this transformed yao flesh.
What an incredible ability to disguise itself! Or does the yao will possess the ability to shift between the forms of will and flesh? If Cao Hongchang's circumstances were not so unusual, with his sea of consciousness still undergoing demonization rather than having been completely demonized, and if I had not happened to be purging the yao will at this exact stage, I truly would never have discovered this secret! Lin Zheyu mused inwardly with delight.
He could scarcely wait to capture a yao and verify his conjecture. Lin Zheyu had every reason to suspect that the spirit and spiritual soul within a yao grew inside its head in the form of yao flesh.