Sensing the anomaly, the Dharma Body immediately sprang into action, concealing the celestial phenomena and the flow of demonic qi through the world to prevent any sharp-eyed observer from catching wind of what was happening.
In the cavern thirty thousand zhang underground, Yang Kai's muffled roars rolled forth from the churning demonic qi, like a wounded beast licking its wounds in solitude. The sound sent waves of unease through the Dharma Body even from where it stood.
By this point, there was nothing it could do to help Yang Kai. His current condition was plainly a full-blown case of Qi Deviation. To weather this tribulation, he had only himself to rely on. If he failed, everything would be for naught.
The thought made the Dharma Body's anxiety mount.
The roars came in fitful bursts, their duration impossible to gauge. Yang Kai's voice grew hoarser and hoarser, as though his vocal cords were being torn apart.
During this time, an immeasurable amount of demonic qi from the surrounding world was drawn into his body. The massive reserves of Ancient Demon Essence sealed within his dantian were released in full, merging with his flesh and meridians until the two became indistinguishable.
At some unknown moment, Yang Kai's eyes snapped open.
The world went dark.
The cavern thirty thousand zhang below the surface had never held a shred of light — it was pitch black to begin with — yet even so, the Dharma Body felt as though it had been swallowed whole by absolute darkness, as if not only its vision but even its divine sense had been cut off from everything.
In the blackness, a single thread of golden light blazed with startling prominence.
The Dharma Body raised its gaze and saw that the golden thread was unmistakably a vertical golden pupil. As Yang Kai's Dharma Body, it knew full well what that golden vertical eye represented.
The World-Destroying Demon Eye!
A divine eye technique obtained all the way back from the Profound Continent, one Yang Kai had relied on time and again to defeat powerful enemies and turn the tide of desperate battles.
But that was not the critical issue. The critical issue was Yang Kai's other eye. Though it could see nothing, the Dharma Body could still feel that Yang Kai's second eye was open as well — only that eye was utterly, completely black.
The Ancient Demon Black Eye!
The Dharma Body's pupils contracted sharply, its mind reeling as though struck square in the skull by a sledgehammer. Its thoughts were thrown into utter disarray.
The Ancient Demon Black Eye was a power that had always manifested only when Yang Kai unsealed the seal in his dantian. Once Darkness Boundless was unleashed, heaven and earth alike were plunged into shadow. How could it be appearing now?
Had the Main Body truly fallen completely to the demonic path?
And at that very instant, Yang Kai's roars transformed into a long, agonized shriek. The Dharma Body's instincts had been right — neither of his eyes was in a normal state. The World-Destroying Demon Eye and the Ancient Demon Black Eye had manifested simultaneously. The World-Destroying Demon Eye in his left socket was one thing, but the Ancient Demon Black Eye in his right burned as though set aflame — a pain that pierced to the very heart, accompanied by a relentless throbbing, as though the eye were trying to leap from its socket.
The torment was beyond what any mortal could endure.
With each pulsation, Yang Kai felt his three souls and seven spirits threatening to scatter apart, an agony that made death seem the preferable release.
He gritted his teeth and held on. The Warm Spirit Lotus guarded the last bastion of purity within his sea of consciousness, keeping him from sinking into true, complete demonic corruption. In this fierce struggle against his own fate, the violently unstable aura emanating from Yang Kai's body gradually settled into something steadier.
Time crept forward. The throbbing in his right eye grew smaller and smaller, and the excruciating pain that had plagued him slowly eased.
At last, in a single moment, all the pain vanished as though it had never existed. The throbbing right eye stilled once more, and an ineffusable sensation of comfort spread through every inch of his body. Yang Kai let out a long, deep breath.
The pitch-black demonic qi swirling within the cavern contracted and receded, pouring into his body in a unified rush like a tide pulling back from the shore, restoring calm to the world thirty thousand zhang beneath the surface.
Yang Kai sat cross-legged, his breathing slow and measured. The aura of the Emperor Realm third layer was unmistakable.
The Dharma Body stood a short distance away, watching in a daze. In the current situation, even it could not determine whether Yang Kai had successfully weathered the tribulation or had succumbed completely to the demonic path.
But regardless, the Main Body was still the Main Body. It and Yang Kai could never be separated. So long as there was no threat to his life, the Dharma Body could accept whatever changes Yang Kai underwent.
One incense stick's time later, Yang Kai opened his eyes once more. In that instant, brilliant light seemed to erupt within the lightless cavern.
The Dharma Body hurriedly asked, "How is it?"
Yang Kai rose to his feet, stretched his limbs, and took stock of his body's condition. He scratched his chin and said, "Hard to say…"
"Hard to say?" The Dharma Body stared at him.
Yang Kai explained, "It's a long story. The breakthrough was a success, but I'm not entirely sure what state I'm in now." Reaching the Emperor Realm third layer was certain beyond doubt — that much was guaranteed — but whether or not he had actually fallen to the demonic path, even Yang Kai couldn't say.
If he claimed he had gone demonic, he hadn't lost his reason or awareness; his mind was perfectly clear. But if he claimed he hadn't gone demonic… the very nature of his Emperor Essence had undergone a complete and total transformation, having been entirely converted into Demon Essence.
After all, during the breakthrough he had absorbed a vast quantity of demonic qi from heaven and earth. Even the Ancient Demon Essence stored in his dantian had been fully digested. The Emperor Essence he had painstakingly cultivated over many years had long since been assimilated along with it.