Zhu Xingyao quickly found the half of his primordial spirit that he had hidden away.
At the bottom of the lake where Shen Xiuyun had fallen that day.
This half of his primordial spirit was none other than the Demon Lord “Zhu Xingyao” who had been spouting filthy talk that day, triggering all sorts of love triangles.
He had endured the agony of splitting off half his primordial spirit, painstakingly staging such an elaborate farce.
On one hand, it was to make Master acknowledge his own heart. On the other, it was to have a legitimate excuse for dual cultivation!
Even if Master had truly conjured up such a version of him because of the illusion, even if they shared the same face, he would absolutely never allow Master to share that kind of intimate behavior with anyone else.
That was why he had chosen to use half of his own primordial spirit to replace that fake.
Coincidentally, the desires of both the good boy and the bad boy were satisfied in one fell swoop.
However, after several rounds of probing that day, he had finally confirmed that not falling into demonic cultivation seemed to be Shen Xiuyun’s bottom line where he was concerned.
Master only liked him as he was now… well-behaved and obedient.
So be it. It was nothing more than wearing a mask.
In order to obtain Master, there was nothing he could not do.
It was just a pity that this time it had fallen a little short. They hadn’t actually gone all the way.
But he thought that Master becoming his dao companion shouldn’t be too far off now.
Zhu Xingyao silently recited an incantation. That half of his slumbering primordial spirit instantly transformed into a streak of purple light and merged into his brow.
“Jiejiejie… so this is the truth of it.
You’re a half-demon. You actually fell into demonic cultivation long ago, yet on the surface you’ve been pretending flawlessly.
You even split your primordial spirit, directing and starring in your own little farce.
That naive Master of yours has been played for a fool.
I’ve lived all these years and never seen anyone better at pretending than you!
Humans really are sinister and treacherous!”
Above the lake surface, the phantom of a half-human, half-snake figure materialized, immediately cursing Zhu Xingyao out.
Zhu Xingyao scoffed, not taking it seriously at all.
If this blue-winged snake demon had hidden itself away in the illusion, finding it would have taken some effort. But he had never seen one stupid enough to deliver itself right to his doorstep.
The blue-winged snake demon was smugly pleased with itself for having gotten a handle on Zhu Xingyao, completely oblivious to the danger.
“If your Master knew the whole truth, would he still cherish you as before?”
Zhu Xingyao tilted his head, his luminous peach-blossom eyes curving slightly. Though they held a smile, there was not a trace of warmth in them.
“Do you think I would let you spread the truth?”
The blue-winged snake demon considered itself sufficiently outrageous back in its days in the mortal realm, but it never expected this greenhorn to be even more brazen, actually calling himself “this seat.”
Did he know that those who could refer to themselves as “this seat” had to be at minimum at the Tribulation Transcendence stage in cultivation?
“You arrogant brat who doesn’t know the height of heaven or the depth of earth, I know you’ve concealed part of your strength, but we’re not in the demon realm right now.
This is a world forged from my divine soul, unbound by the demon realm formation’s suppression. Do you really think I only have late Foundation Establishment cultivation?”
Zhu Xingyao’s tone was flat, devoid of any rise or fall, as though he were commenting on how nice the weather was today.
“Oh, suppression, huh? Soul Formation mid-stage? Sounds quite impressive.”
The blue-winged snake demon, immersed in its own self-constructed fantasy, said smugly, “What’s the matter? Scared now, aren’t you? Beg me for mercy, kneel down and lick me, serve me well from now on, and I might reluctantly… wait, how did you know I’m at late Soul Formation?”
Zhu Xingyao glanced at this idiot. “Is it that difficult? As long as one’s cultivation is higher than yours, can’t they know it effortlessly?”
The blue-winged snake demon was on the verge of madness. “I don’t believe it! At your age, even if you fell into demonic cultivation early on, even if you took the crooked path of devouring others’ cultivation to boost your own, you still couldn’t possibly surpass me!”
Besides, Zhu Xingyao didn’t look like someone who had devoured a lot of others’ cultivation, either.
His spiritual energy wasn’t muddled or impure… in fact, it was remarkably pure.
It was obvious he had cultivated it himself, step by step.
“Who exactly are you?!”
Every year, the ones who entered the demon realm were the young batch of Xuantian Sect disciples, which meant this person before him couldn’t have entered Xuantian Sect that long ago, either.
“You ask too many questions. I can’t be bothered to answer.
I’ve been out a bit too long. To avoid Master growing suspicious, it’s best to deal with you quickly.”
Zhu Xingyao condensed a nearly transparent short sword between his palms.
The snake demon’s pupils contracted. The aura emanating from this short sword gave it an extremely dangerous feeling.
Without knowing the opponent’s true strength, a head-on clash was clearly unwise.
The blue-winged snake demon did a quick mental calculation and instantly decided to make a run for it.
But how could Zhu Xingyao possibly let it escape?
He aimed his palm at the soul body suspended in midair and pulled. The snake demon struggled desperately, but could only watch helplessly as it was dragged backward inch by inch.
Knowing it could not escape, the snake demon let out one last act of defiance.
“Even if I die, I know that you and your Master are destined for no good end!
Your immoral feelings for him will not be tolerated by the world. Your ulterior motives are doomed to amount to nothing.
Even if your master-and-disciple bond is deep today, once he learns the truth in the future, he will surely be sickened to his core by you. You will inevitably cross swords.
A lowly demon like you… how would Xuantian Sect, a righteous and orthodox sect, tolerate a disciple who has fallen into demonic cultivation?
In the future, for the sake of the righteous path, he will surely cut you down beneath his sword! I’ll be waiting for you on the road to the Yellow Springs! Hahaha!”
“Noisy.”
Zhu Xingyao frowned in irritation and hurled the snake demon’s soul body heavily to the ground.
He drove that nearly transparent short sword into the blue-winged snake demon’s soul body. The latter immediately let out a shrill, wailing scream, the soul body writhing and rolling on the ground in agony.
“It’s just dissecting a soul. Screaming this miserably… are you trying to lure Master over here?”
“Pity. He’s been too exhausted these past few days and is sleeping deeply now. I also left a barrier at the cave entrance when I came out. He won’t hear a thing.”
Master had been so tired he didn’t want to move… and it wasn’t just his hands.
His mouth must be quite sore, too.
Was the aphrodisiac poison really so easy to resolve?
Even now, he still couldn’t forget… gently gripping Master’s long hair, stroking the back of his head, applying just a little force, and the way Master couldn’t help but let tears fall like rain.
At that moment, even dying by Master’s hand would have been something he accepted willingly.
The blue-winged snake demon said in a trembling voice, “You… you’re terrifying!”
At this very moment, it felt a trembling that seemed to come from the very soul.
Zhu Xingyao smiled as though it were the most natural thing in the world. “I am a demon. Demons are of course terrifying.”
But compared to certain greedy, disgusting people, he still felt he came up short.
At the very least, when he struck, he always had a reason.
A moment later, the blue-winged snake demon’s divine soul floated quietly beside Zhu Xingyao. Its color appeared much dimmer, its eyes vacant, like wooden puppets on strings.
Zhu Xingyao glanced at the few balls of light struggling desperately in his palm and clicked his tongue in disgust.
“So filthy.”
When this snake demon still had its physical body, it practiced a whole set of seductive and evil techniques… even its blood carried charm poison. Now that it had become a soul body, the memories within its soul were equally filthy.
Zhu Xingyao closed his palm, casually stuffing the dissected fragments of remnant soul into a spirit-locking pouch. Then he said to the soul body beside him that he had already carved into a mindless puppet under his control: “Stab me a few times.”