Tianxing Sect.
Ji Wusi withdrew his gaze.
"What was that?" Qing Yun couldn't help but glance at Ji Wusi.
Ji Wusi replied calmly, "Nothing. Someone was trying to spy on this place using a secret technique. I've already countered the attempt. That person is likely injured."
Someone was spying on them?
The crowd stirred slightly.
Ji Wusi's reaction had been so fast that none of them had time to notice anything before it was already over.
They were both in the Mahayana realm.
Yet Ji Wusi's cultivation felt like it belonged to another dimension entirely.
His cultivation...
It seemed nearly on par with the legendary Wan Dao Sage from a thousand years ago.
"Zhao Wuji is dead, but this matter is far from over," Ji Wusi began to speak further—
Suddenly, Yun Jin's expression changed.
"Master, something's happened on the Demon Sovereign's side," Yun Jin said urgently.
From Zhao Wuji's earlier testimony, they had more or less confirmed that Yang Yun was the Demon Sovereign.
And now?
Something had suddenly gone wrong with Yang Yun?
Everyone's expressions changed as they rushed over.
Tianxing Sect Main Hall.
Earlier—
Yang Yun had been bound by a magical artifact and thrown into the main hall by Ji Wusi. To be safe, Yun Jin had also asked the Lava Dragon to continue guarding him.
Just moments ago—
The Lava Dragon sent an urgent message. Something had gone wrong. It wasn't clear what exactly, but it had only managed to send the two words: "Something happened."
As Yun Jin spoke, Ji Wusi also sensed that his artifact had been broken free of.
That artifact was under his control, and under normal circumstances, unless one's cultivation surpassed his own, escaping it was near impossible.
He had already checked Yang Yun's current cultivation—it had dropped all the way back to the Qi Refining stage.
How could someone at Qi Refining possibly break free from his artifact?
Something was definitely off.
Inside the hall—
It was already chaos.
Everyone from Tianxing Sect had gathered alongside the Lava Dragon. In the center of the room, surrounded by all of them, was a massive demonic soul.
The soul loomed behind Yang Yun, enormous and grotesque, its gaping maw large enough to swallow a mountain.
Yang Yun's face didn't look good.
He spoke coldly, "Quick! Get out of here!"
"So many fresh bodies," the demonic soul cackled, its voice shrill and eerie. "Delicious. Absolutely delicious."
It looked like it could hardly wait to rush forward and feast.
Judging from the hunger in its eyes, the so-called "delicacies" it mentioned were clearly humans.
"I said get out! What the hell are you doing?" Yang Yun's voice rose in anger.
The demonic soul glanced down at him, full of disdain. "When did you become the one giving orders?"
Ji Wusi's eyes narrowed sharply the moment he saw the demonic soul.
The demonic energy surging from this entity far exceeded any demon race he had encountered before. Even at his peak, the Demon Sovereign couldn't compare to this soul.
Just a soul alone was this powerful?
Then what about its true body?
How terrifying must that be?
If such a demonic existence truly existed in this world, how could the human race ever hope to survive?
A terrifying thought flashed through Ji Wusi's mind.
The humans of this world bore a similar appearance to humanity.
But this demonic soul—its features were entirely different from the native demon race of this realm.
Could it be—
An outer-realm demon?
Ji Wusi's pupils constricted.
Back then—
When the dimensional rift opened, Wushuang Sect had paid a devastating price to seal the portal and trap the outer-realm demons within a pocket dimension.
But now—
An outer-realm demon had appeared here?
How did this soul make it through?
Had its true body already discovered this world?
Had the outer-realm demons found this place?
In that instant—
Ji Wusi saw a future soaked in blood, a vision of humanity screaming in agony. His eyes reddened. Without hesitation, he drew his sword and slashed toward the demonic soul.
"I told you to run! Why didn't you run!" Yang Yun shouted, panic and anger flashing in his eyes as Ji Wusi's sword came down.
"The number one human cultivator. What perfect timing. Let me test your strength," the demonic soul cackled, then opened its mouth wide.
The terrifying sword qi was swallowed whole.
Its form flickered between solid and formless, then—
It let out a satisfied belch.
Ji Wusi's expression grew heavier as he launched another wave of attacks.
But the demonic soul no longer met them head-on.
Instead, it opened its mouth and devoured Yang Yun whole, then turned into smoke and shot away into the distance.
"Don't let it escape!"
Everyone sprang into pursuit without hesitation.
Only those at the Mahayana level and above could keep up with this kind of battle.
Yun Jin didn't join the chase. She simply frowned.
"System, what was that demonic soul just now?" she asked inwardly.
As always, the system responded in its usual tone:
[Requires 1000 Advanced Queries.]
Yun Jin's face turned green.
Just to identify that demonic soul? It cost a full thousand high-level queries?
With that many, she could've earned another Super Fragment!
But—
She gritted her teeth.
"Deduct it."
This demonic soul had never appeared in the original book.
Yet now it had not only appeared, but shown terrifying strength.
She couldn't ignore it.
After deducting the full thousand, the system gave its response.
[Hidden Plotline: Outer-Realm Demon.
A thousand years ago, a spatial vortex appeared. The outer-realm demons discovered this world. The Wushuang Sect's leader, the Wan Dao Saint, used supreme power to drag the entire sect into a pocket dimension, sealing the portal and halting the invasion. However—
Among the outer-realm demons was a Devourer Demon God. The Devourer split its soul into thousands. One fragment lingered near the portal. This soul possessed devouring abilities. It consumed fragments of spatial laws and eventually escaped the pocket dimension, entering this world.
Though weak, it gradually regained a sliver of sentience after recuperating here. However—A soul fragment cannot survive alone for long. By protagonist fate, Yang Yun encountered the newly awakened soul and absorbed it.
From then on, a symbiotic relationship formed between Yang Yun and the demonic soul. Though the soul grew more powerful over time, it had been suppressed from the start and could never fully break free. To gain control over the body, the demonic soul offered Yang Yun many benefits.Through their ongoing struggle, it passed Yang Yun secret techniques like the Ninefold Nirvana Codex.
Yang Yun rose to become the Demon Sovereign. Though he gained much, he never used the demonic soul's power, wary of its true intentions. This time—
Cornered, Yang Yun was forced to release the soul's power. From now on—He will no longer be able to fully suppress it. The soul now controls half the body.]
The system laid out the entire sequence clearly.
Yun Jin's expression grew darker.
In the original book—
Yang Yun never encountered a situation where he had to unleash the demonic soul. He simply used the Nirvana Codex to gain everything he wanted, even ascending to the Immortal Realm and beginning a new journey.
But the novel ended there—with Yang Yun and Ye Danxia's ascension.
What came after?
If the story had continued, this demonic soul would definitely have reappeared.
The soul of a Devourer Demon God—how could it remain suppressed forever?
There was bound to be a confrontation between Yang Yun and the soul.
But the book never covered that, and she had no way of knowing how it would play out.