Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, another three years passed.
Feng Qi led the team through eight domain fields in a row.
One of those domain fields took them a whole year just to cross.
That domain field had already devoured and fused with several others, its territory was vast, and it was ruled by a powerful clan—one of the strongest domain fields Feng Qi had ever encountered on his journey.
During these three years, the team's gear had changed.
As the team's support, Xiao You had made black robes for everyone.
The robes were completely woven from energy, light and thin to the touch, but visually indistinguishable from real fabric.
As a team, the black robe design was done solely by Xiao You.
Each robe had a Demon Blade embroidered on the back, which glowed softly under the light.
Besides that, every robe's right sleeve had a unique pattern representing each member of the Demon Blade Squad.
For example, Feng Qi, as the leader, had the Demon Blade symbol embroidered on his right sleeve. When the robe absorbed external spiritual energy, black mist would swirl from the blade symbol, looking fierce and imposing.
Xiao You's robe had a golden Life-Death Flower spirit pattern on her right sleeve.
That was a plant she had known since she could remember. Though she had little memory of her clan, she knew the Life-Death Flower must have been a spirit plant cultivated by them.
Even the flight mask she made for herself had the Life-Death Flower imprinted on it.
Po Jia's robe had a dark red dagger on the right sleeve, symbolizing his combat style and the path he pursued—assassination.
Lei Ting's robe had a lightning mark, tied to his innate abilities and his race's culture.
Even Taihang had his own custom Demon Blade robe, marked with the Nightmare Bell pattern from his neck.
Only the negative consciousness body didn't have a robe made.
Years of traveling together, plus matching outfits, had clearly strengthened the team's bond.
Especially for Po Jia—it was a warmth he had never felt before.
He had lived in an underground mine, learning patience, cunning, selfishness, and more from a young age.
Even after Feng Qi brought him out of that mine, his worldview didn't change. He still felt like a commodity, unable to escape a fate of being used.
But during this journey, his frozen heart slowly began to thaw.
Even though he remained quiet on the outside, deep inside, he already felt a strong sense of belonging to the team.
But deep in Po Jia's heart, his thirst for strength never weakened.
He knew that only power could truly decide his future.
That day, Feng Qi led the team into a brand-new domain field.
After passing through the domain field barrier, they saw a boundless black ocean stretching out before them, with a huge island to the left.
They were standing on black reef rocks.
Following the sound of waves crashing on the rocks, he looked into the distance where endless black waves rolled across the horizon.
Faintly, there were ethereal sounds like sea sirens coming from deep in the ocean.
The air here was filled with the stench of rotting fish.
Clearly, this was another domain world dominated by the sea.
Thinking about having to cross another ocean, Feng Qi took a deep breath. He knew this was the start of another tough journey.
Sensing with his blood energy, he could feel many powerful life forms ahead in the sea—crossing it would mean one fierce battle after another.
He didn't rush to set off and decided they should rest on the shore first.
Soon, a campfire was lit by the shore.
Xiao You skillfully took out all kinds of ingredients from her spatial bracelet, followed by ground spirit plant powders for Feng Qi to choose from.
Meanwhile, as the team's scout, Po Jia took advantage of the time while food was being prepared to explore the surroundings.
Feng Qi didn't stop him.
Flowers grown in greenhouses wouldn't thrive—he couldn't handle everything personally.
He was the leader, not the nanny of the Demon Blade Squad.
Po Jia, Lei Ting, and the others clearly understood that.
Especially Po Jia—now he didn't need to be told what his role was.
An hour later, under flames from the Demon Blade, the tough hide of a domain beast melted away, revealing grey-red meat inside. The aroma, trapped under the skin, burst out instantly.
Feng Qi sliced off a piece of the steaming meat with the Demon Blade, then grabbed a spirit leaf and wrapped the meat before handing it to Xiao You.
The Ling Rong leaf was a spirit plant Feng Qi had picked in a desert domain field.
That domain field had almost no greenery, and finding the Ling Rong leaf was pure chance. Unsure if it was poisonous, he tried a small bite and found it was sour and crisp, with body-nourishing effects.
It went perfectly with roasted meat, cutting through the grease.
But each leaf eaten meant one less in their stock—they didn't have many left.
Many of their early-gathered spirit plant seasonings had already run out. On the road, they always had to find new ones.
"Qi-ge, thank you!"
Seeing Xiao You's eyes light up as she happily took the roasted meat, Feng Qi just nodded, used to her reactions, and didn't say anything.
Feng Qi sliced off another piece of roasted meat and threw it into his mouth. His gaze shifted toward the island.
"Where's Po Jia?"
"Maybe he found something on the island. Should I go look for him?" Lei Ting said casually while sneaking bites of roasted meat, not even lifting his head.
"Eat slower. Save some for him."
"Got it."
After waiting a long while, Po Jia still hadn't returned.
Sensing something was wrong, Feng Qi stood up with the Demon Blade on his back.
A soft light spread from the handle of the Demon Blade to the tip, and the oily sheen on the blade instantly faded away.
"You all stay here. Taihang, come with me to find him."
With that, Feng Qi leapt into the air, his body gliding across a distance before landing on the island's black sandy beach.
Taihang jumped up too, following Feng Qi to the shore.
Looking at the forest on the island, densely covered in green, Feng Qi stepped in without hesitation.
His blood energy sensing activated, spreading forward like a radar.
At the island's center, deep inside a pit.
Thick black smoke rose endlessly from the depths.
At the bottom of the pit.
A group of beings wearing colorful floral masks were dancing strangely around the heavily injured Po Jia, chanting something in a low, eerie tone.
Their forms varied—some were humanoid, others beast-like—but all were crimson red, their skin like metal scorched by flames, glowing faintly.
As they danced and chanted, strange runes appeared one after another, branding themselves onto Po Jia's body.
The scene resembled some kind of ritual.
Tied to a black stone pillar, Po Jia was unconscious, his face twisted in pain, like he was enduring unbearable torment.
Each time a strange rune was branded onto him, his body trembled uncontrollably.
Right now, Po Jia's spiritual sea had already been invaded by these dark runes.
His mind was blurry, drifting between illusion and reality.
He felt like he was no longer himself.
A new consciousness was growing inside him, and he had a new name—Xie Luan.
With it came shattered memories.
The first memory was of a massive war—two colossal domain fields colliding, tearing the layer world apart.
Countless figures clashed, and blood rained from the sky.
The battle was brutal, lives snuffed out like weeds, crushed by the chaos of war.
For some reason, these scenes filled Po Jia with deep sorrow.
As the tide of battle began to shift, a deep voice thundered in his mind.
He couldn't understand the words, but then he saw a figure leap into the sky, slashing with its claws to separate the two clashing domain fields.
After doing so, the figure's body was covered in cracks, clearly exhausted.
With one last effort, it reached out toward its people.
From afar, the souls of the weary survivors were pulled from their bodies, fusing into a single pearl.
Facing enemies closing in, the figure let out a sky-shaking roar and hurled the soul pearl into the distance.
As the figure was surrounded and overwhelmed by the enemy, sorrow surged in Po Jia's heart.
His vision followed the soaring pearl.
It flew at incredible speed, piercing through several domain field barriers before finally falling, landing on an island.
Over countless years, the soul pearl lay buried deep beneath the island.
Until recently, its seal broke.
The ancient battle souls, long sealed, awakened.
They possessed nearby beings, reviving in a new form.
But some souls, having slept too long, had become lost and couldn't awaken on their own.
To solve this, the revived beings tried to awaken them through rituals, feeding them memories, trying to reactivate their sealed thoughts and preparing new bodies for them.
These broken memories kept flooding into Po Jia, and he could feel a demon inside him waking up.
It wanted to devour his consciousness and take over his flesh.
Realizing the danger, Po Jia knew he was in trouble.
But compared to others, he had experience fighting off possession.
To toughen their minds, Feng Qi often had the negative consciousness body attempt spiritual possession on them.
Sensing something wrong, Po Jia quickly tightened his mental defenses.
As time passed, the strange runes on his body increased, and his defenses began to crumble.
The consciousness calling itself Xie Luan whispered in his ear, its revival accelerating.
Seeds of dark power also revived within him, devouring his blood energy, turning his body into Xie Luan's former shape.
It felt like he was thrown into a frozen, icy world.
Endless cold invaded his body.
Facing death, Po Jia's mind fought back, trying to break through the spiritual blockade wrapped in evil aura.
The possession training from the negative consciousness body now showed its worth.
Po Jia didn't collapse under the possession, showing incredible tenacity.
But no matter how hard he fought, he couldn't stop the darkness from eating away at him.
If this went on, he had no doubt his mind would be completely consumed.
At the edge of despair, Po Jia suddenly remembered something Qi-ge once said:
"I have a friend called Narrator. He told me one thing—when the enemy hits you, you hit back. In desperate times, the brave win. You can't lose in spirit."
Thinking of this, Po Jia hardened his heart.
His consciousness began to fight back, devouring the darkness.
In the process, a flood of knowledge poured into his mind, making his awareness even fuzzier.
It was like two personalities merging inside him.
Outside.
As red mist rose from Po Jia's body, forming a fierce shadow shrouding him, the dancing figures around him all showed joy.
They knew a slumbering clansman was about to awaken.
Their plan for revival had just taken another step forward.
But after waiting a while, they noticed something was wrong.
Po Jia's form, which should have transformed, hadn't changed at all. The mist of Xie Luan wrapped around him, but it didn't fully merge into his body.
This made Po Jia's appearance strange.
His body was wrapped in a layer of red mist, like wearing a coat of fog.
The misty form of Xie Luan covering Po Jia looked especially fierce.
Huge arms hung low, claws gleaming with dark light, its head twisted and feral, filled with sharp black teeth, its face covered in spiky protrusions.
As confusion spread among them, Po Jia suddenly opened his eyes.
At that moment, it felt like an ancient demon had awakened.
His scarlet eyes lit up sharply, and with a swipe, the misty form of Xie Luan followed his claw.
The vines binding his body were sliced apart by the claws, and he dropped to the ground.
Seeing this, the ancient battle souls around him immediately realized things were out of control.
They all roared at once.
Their bodies twisted and suddenly enlarged, taking on their ferocious ancient forms.
Compared to Po Jia, who was wrapped in mist, these beings looked far more terrifying in their ancient war bodies.
They attacked Po Jia together.
Having just broken free from Xie Luan's invasion and gained its power, Po Jia launched a counterattack.
With a swing, the misty Xie Luan followed his claws.
Bang!
One of the attackers was sent flying.
But facing a siege, Po Jia wasn't a match.
He was pinned to the ground by the ancient beings, unable to move no matter how hard he struggled.
They quickly bound his limbs with energy ropes and hung him upside down in midair.
As murmurs echoed, the weakened Po Jia could feel the vanished Xie Luan's consciousness reappearing, and it was devouring him faster than ever.
His mind blurred, and he knew he had no chance of turning this around.
His spirit fading, just as his eyes were about to close, he saw a familiar figure drop from the sky, landing with an overbearing presence.
"Boss... they're strong," Po Jia forced out.
For some reason, seeing Qi-ge appear gave him a sudden will to hang on.
"Strong my ass. Watch me tear them apart."
Looking at the battered, upside-down Po Jia bound in energy ropes, Feng Qi's rage surged, and he cursed.
His eyes shifted to the ancient beings glaring at him, and a wicked, feral grin spread across his face.
At this moment, Taihang also landed behind him.
"Taihang, time to work!"
"Roar!" Seeing Po Jia's battered state, Taihang roared in fury.
The Nightmare Bell chimed at this moment.
The negative consciousness body sleeping in Feng Qi's spiritual sea was slapped awake by his mind.
As the bell rang, Feng Qi's main consciousness was gradually suppressed.
With the help of the negative consciousness body, his negative personality began to awaken.
Now, if the main personality wanted to perceive the outside world, it had to rely on the negative side—the two began to merge.
With a raspy, mad laugh, Feng Qi's body started to change. Blade armor and negative energy spread from the center of his body, covering him.
His aura climbed rapidly.
When he gripped the Demon Blade, a ghostly, glowing Ghost Blade formed in his left hand.
As the transformation ended, Feng Qi's gaze turned ice-cold, devoid of emotion.
He raised the Ghost Blade, pointing it at the ancient beings, laughing menacingly.
At the same time, behind him, a fierce and terrifying negative ghost formed, roaring at the ancient beings.
Evil, death, destruction—all kinds of negative emotions surged forward.
Hearing Feng Qi's mad laughter, the ancient beings looked horrified.
They felt every dark emotion from Feng Qi.
It made them realize they were facing a Shura demon with no feelings, only destruction.
This was the first time they had felt such pure evil.
In their understanding, no matter the being, even if they used evil powers, they still had desires and goals.
Whether for their race's survival, for glory, love, family, or thirst for power—there was always something.
The power might be evil, but the user wasn't purely so. True absolute evil didn't exist in this world.
But Feng Qi felt different—a being of pure evil.
The aura from Feng Qi made them tremble.
Before the fight even began, they were already losing in spirit.