"Since I am you and you are me, why should I still take orders from you now that I've gained independent awareness? Besides, in the Saint Realm, it's hardly unheard of for a split spirit to devour its original. You should have been prepared for this when you let me break free back then." The ancient demon with a demon's head and a human body spoke with an eerily calm composure.
"Indeed. I had some notion it might come to this. What I didn't expect was that once you broke free of my control, you'd go and let a human cultivator seize my sealed body first. You even went so far as to use the Body Dissolution Metamorphosis Technique to reconstruct it, all to break the seal. Don't you realize that while this method can force the seal open, it will gravely damage this body's vitality? At the very least, a third of its cultivation will be lost. Do you understand what that means?" The two heads on the Demon Spirit's face simultaneously turned cold, murderous intent flickering in their eyes.
"Hmph! Since when is it 'your' body? I was originally part of your Primordial Spirit — what's wrong with occupying this body? And even if it lost a third of its cultivation, so long as this true form devours you and I avoid those cowardly turtles hiding away in the human world, the realm will be mine to roam as I please. Once I reopen the ancient passage connecting the Saint Realm to the human world, I'll have rendered a great service to the Saint Ancestors. I might even become one of them. What's the loss of a bit of cultivation compared to that?" The ancient demon with the demon head let out a cold laugh, his tone dripping with contempt.
The two-headed, four-armed Demon Spirit heard this and understood — the situation had progressed too far for words to matter.
Since the second demon soul he had once cultivated had begun to rebel and devour its origin, only one of them could exist independently in this world. The other's spiritual consciousness had to be obliterated. There was no question about it.
Had he not been desperate — had his main Primordial Spirit truly been unable to free itself from the restrictions — he would never have taken the risk of letting a split spirit go free and never return. Now that he had escaped, just as expected, the split spirit had indeed gone wrong.
Still, even though the other had seized the demon body, its current cultivation was nothing compared to the demonized host he had hastily found for himself. But he had been the original Primordial Spirit, and naturally had placed certain restrictions on the split spirit before sending it out. He didn't know how many the other had managed to break through, but in a fight, the outcome was anyone's guess.
With this thought, one of the Demon Spirit's heads abruptly turned, sweeping its gaze across the surrounding cultivators. Then it spoke coldly: "As to which of us devours the other, that can wait. First, let's devour these cultivators' Nascent Souls for a nice power boost. Then we can find a secluded spot to settle the matter of hierarchy between us. I'd rather not let these human cultivators dream of profiting as the fisherman after the snipe and clam fight. You don't disagree, do you?"
"Not at all. The residual restrictions inside me have been mostly refined by now — seven or eight parts out of ten. Even without your help, I could slaughter them all on my own." The ancient demon with the demon head and human body replied evenly. Then the purple-red demonic glow in his eyes suddenly flared with blinding intensity, and both eyes snapped wide open.
"Heh, heh — don't make claims you can't back up. Some of these cultivators are rather troublesome to deal with." The Demon Spirit let out a cold chuckle, its gaze unconsciously flicking toward Han Li.
The ancient demon with the demon head opened his mouth, letting a long purple tongue flick out and retract. A look of disdain crossed his face.
When the cultivators had first seen the two-headed, four-armed ancient demon materialize, they had all been startled. After hearing the two demons converse so openly, they were practically stupefied.
From the way the two demons spoke, they had originally been a main Primordial Spirit and a second Primordial Spirit. Now the second had gained autonomy and seized the demon's body in return, and the two had become as hostile as fire and water.
Ancestor Linghu and the white-haired elder were secretly delighted, thinking the two demons would fight each other first, giving them a chance to profit in the confusion. But then the conversation took a sudden turn — the two demons had decided to join forces against the cultivators instead. Their expressions changed drastically.
"Fellow Daoist Wei, I'll have to trouble you to keep your opponent occupied. Let Fellow Daoist Linghu and the other assist you. I'll handle the other demon with a few of the others. We can only focus on protecting ourselves for now." After a rapid flash of thought, Han Li spoke to Wei Wuya in a steady, commanding tone.
"I'll do my best! But quite a few of the restrictions inside that creature have been unsealed. I'm not sure how long I can hold out in my current injured state." Wei Wuya was taken aback for a moment, then showed a bitter smile as he understood Han Li's intent to stall.
With other cultivators currently making their way here, the longer they could drag things out, the better.
Ancestor Linghu and the white-robed woman heard Han Li's directive-like words but felt no particular objection. After all, in the world of immortal cultivation, strength was supreme. Han Li's cultivation far surpassed theirs, and his proposed strategy was entirely sound. Naturally, neither had reason to argue.
But the two demons in the sky gave the human cultivators no time to confer. Han Li had spoken barely a sentence, and before he could even coordinate with the white-haired elder and the others, the two demon figures launched their attack.
The ancient demon with the demon head spun around in a swift pirouette. A flash of demonic light erupted across his body, and the entire sky instantly darkened as black-purple demonic light surged wildly outward in every direction, blanketing the surrounding heavens in an eerie, alien hue.
The Demon Spirit hovering above showed no intention of dodging the curtain of light. Instead, with strange expressions on both faces, its figure flickered and vanished without a trace within the light screen.
Seeing this, all the cultivators knew the battle had begun. Whatever schemes they had harbored before, there was nothing to do now but grit their teeth and fight.
Wei Wuya's body blazed with green light, then disappeared once more into his toxic mist. The previously settled mist began to churn and surge, and more than ten emerald poison dragons, condensed from the toxic fog, shot out from within, jaws agape and claws slashing, rushing upward to meet the surging demonic light. For the moment, they managed to hold their ground.
Ancestor Linghu and the white-robed woman exchanged a glance, then transformed into two streaks of brilliant light and shot toward Wei Wuya's position. The white-robed woman drew out her Purple Light Treasure Mirror and unleashed an extraordinarily thick pillar of five-colored light, blasting straight through the light screen before her without hesitation and flying through.
Ancestor Linghu's ring ancient treasure had already been lost. He could only take out the jade ruyi he had used before to shield his body, then send the small emerald seal hurtling forward as a cloud of green radiance to smash into the light screen — a grand display of force in its own right.
In their minds, even though Wei Wuya was severely injured, as a great cultivator who had shaken the Tian Nan region for centuries, he was still more reliable than staying by Han Li's side. At the very least, that Demon Spirit's invisibility technique was far too uncanny. The two of them had no confidence in being able to see through it. Better to fight the other demon under the cover of Wei Wuya's toxic mist — that was the safer option.
In the blink of an eye, they flew into the green mist. Wei Wuya had already opened a passage, allowing them to enter unharmed.
Han Li had no intention of continuing to worry about Ancestor Linghu and the other. Instead, he cast a casual, indifferent glance toward Old Man Cheng and the rest.