He was still in the middle of his breakthrough, and there was no way he could simply ignore some strange entity like this lurking within his Consciousness Sea. If it disrupted him at a critical moment, the consequences would be unthinkable.
But this thing couldn't even be destroyed by the Soul-Severing Blade, and he had no idea what its origins were.
In theory, since it had managed to enter his Consciousness Sea, it should have been a condensation of spiritual consciousness. The Soul-Severing Blade should have been able to do something against it.
Yang Kai shifted his gaze toward the center of the Seven-Colored Treasure Island. The Soul-Severing Blade was useless — he wondered whether the Soul-Devouring Insects could counter it instead.
If even the Soul-Devouring Insects couldn't deal with it, Yang Kai truly had no idea how to expel or annihilate this creature. But at this point, he had no choice but to try everything, even if the odds were grim.
With a flick of his mind, a dense, dark cloud of insects surged from the treasure island. Under Yang Kai's control, they instantly enveloped the black shadow.
The shadow continued its relentless assault on the Warm Divine Lotus, paying the Soul-Devouring Insects no mind. Before long, it was wrapped into a tight cocoon by the swarm, and a chilling crunching sound rang out, making one's skin crawl.
Yang Kai coldly observed the shadow's condition. After a moment, his expression shifted.
The Soul-Devouring Insects lived up to expectations — they did have some effect on the black shadow, though it seemed rather limited. If an ordinary person's spiritual consciousness had been gnawed upon like this by the Soul-Devouring Insects, it would likely have collapsed in short order. Yet the shadow remained full of vitality, thrashing about wildly.
But as long as there was some effect, that was enough. Yang Kai had feared that even the Soul-Devouring Insects would prove useless. The current situation was far from ideal, but given sufficient time, he could grind the shadow down to nothing.
With the situation in his Consciousness Sea temporarily stabilized, Yang Kai turned his attention to the state of his physical body.
Perhaps because the shadow problem remained unresolved, he still hadn't been able to break through that invisible barrier and advance to the next, more powerful realm. The aura of the Emperor Realm continued to rise and fall in waves.
The concentration of spiritual energy in the cavern had clearly diminished significantly, and the medicinal pills within his body were nearly spent. Yang Kai had no choice but to replenish them again.
Golden blood seeped from every pore on his body, and it felt as though he were being torn apart. Yang Kai's heart sank — never before had a breakthrough been this arduous.
He had finally experienced firsthand the thorns and hardships that littered the path of Cultivation for everyone else. A measure of understanding gradually arose within him: every person's strength was hard-won. On the road to the pinnacle, each additional step demanded ten times, a hundred times the effort and risk compared to others. Looking back on his own smooth journey so far, he realized he had indeed been missing something.
And this trial had finally filled that gap.
With that thought, the pain in his body seemed to diminish significantly, and he gradually slipped into a peculiar state.
At some unknown moment, Yang Kai's body jolted. He distinctly felt something change within his Consciousness Sea and quickly focused his mind to investigate.
Above the Consciousness Sea, the black shadow wrapped in Soul-Devouring Insects was tilting its head back and shrieking toward the sky. Invisible waves of spiritual force rippled outward, stirring the sea below into towering waves.
Yang Kai's expression turned grave. He hurriedly suppressed the anomalies within his Consciousness Sea, calming his mind before looking closely. The black shadow was rapidly expanding, and an extremely dangerous aura erupted forth with devastating force.
His expression changing, Yang Kai immediately issued the order for the Soul-Devouring Insects to retreat. At the same time, he channeled the power of the Warm Divine Lotus. As seven-colored radiance bloomed, it shrouded his entire Consciousness Sea.
A deafening boom rang out as the black shadow detonated. As the black light spread, many Soul-Devouring Insects that couldn't retreat in time were reduced to ash, vanishing without a trace.
Yang Kai himself was rocked so badly that his senses went spinning. His spiritual form nearly collapsed entirely, and for that brief moment, he was incapable of coherent thought.
It took every ounce of will to stabilize his spiritual form and gather his thoughts. Raising his head to look, Yang Kai's jaw dropped.
Scattered across his Consciousness Sea were small traces of ink-black corruption, as though someone had scattered drops of pitch-black ink throughout. Those streaks of ink radiated an intensely malevolent demonic energy, and they were spreading outward at an alarming speed.
The sight nearly tore Yang Kai's soul apart.
He didn't know what would happen if this black "ink" were allowed to spread unchecked, but judging from the demonic aura it exuded, the outcome would certainly not end well for him.
In a panic, he sent out waves of spiritual sense to block the advance.
But to his despair, the moment his spiritual sense touched those streaks of "ink," it was instantly assimilated. Dark thoughts surged within his heart, and violent urges began to take root.
Above the Seven-Colored Treasure Island, the light of purification blazed to life, yet even it struggled to withstand the assimilating power of the ink.
After a frantic struggle, Yang Kai could only watch helplessly as his Consciousness Sea was dyed entirely black. Demonic energy surged skyward throughout the sea, and only the small area at its center, guarded by the Seven-Colored Warm Divine Lotus, remained as the last bastion of purity.
Yang Kai could clearly feel that his mental state had undergone some subtle, indescribable change. Yet he hadn't yet reached the point of Qi Deviation — he could still think rationally, still retained his sanity.
In fact, one might even say that this current state, rather than making him feel distressed, brought a kind of... indescribable exhilaration.
Was he truly falling into demonic corruption?