"Chirp!!"
The sudden eruption of crimson light nearby made Xiaoqiu, whose nerves were already frayed thin from repeated frights, jump nearly three feet straight up in terror. Its fur stood completely on end as it whipped its head around in panicked confusion.
Then, it stared in astonishment. The powerful blood-colored dagger it knew so well had inexplicably lifted into the air. Radiating an aura Xiaoqiu had never sensed before, it shot forward with a "Whizz!"
Xiaoqiu blinked, and in that instant, the dagger was right there—hovering less than a meter above Lin Feng's chest. Before the little creature could react, the blade plunged downward with terrifying force. "Thunk!" It buried itself deep into Lin Feng's chest!
"CHIIIIRP!!!" It all happened too fast. Xiaoqiu was utterly helpless to intervene. Realizing what had happened, it let out a scream of pure horror and instinctively lunged forward, tiny claws outstretched to grab the dagger's hilt protruding from Lin Feng's body.
"Humm…"
Before Xiaoqiu could touch the Blood Demon Blade, a wave of bloody light exploded outward from the weapon. The little creature, mid-lunge, was struck as if by a hurricane. It hurtled backward without any chance to resist, flying over ten meters in the blink of an eye. "Thud!" It slammed into a stone pillar and crumpled to the ground, completely unconscious.
Silence descended once more upon the half-collapsed great hall. Xiaoqiu and An Xiyue lay unconscious on either side. Lin Feng's agonized screams had abruptly ceased. He lay utterly still on the ground.
Yet, his condition defied expectation. Despite being impaled by the Blood Demon Blade—a weapon known to instantly drain the blood of cultivators and demonic beasts alike—he showed no sign of desiccation. Instead, the opposite seemed true. His entire body flushed a deep, angry crimson, as if his blood raged beneath his skin, straining to burst free.
Unprecedented changes wracked Lin Feng's physical form. Simultaneously, within his Mind Sea, a cataclysm was also unfolding…
...
Trapped within his own consciousness, Lin Feng, a mere Golden Core cultivator, was powerless against the soul-shattering battle waged by two Void Tempering masters. Despite fighting desperately within his own domain, his efforts were futile. Inch by inch, his Mind Sea was devoured by the two invading spirits. Gradually, his very awareness began to blur and fade.
"Is this death…?" Lin Feng's consciousness drifted, a strange calm settling over him after the terror, rage, and crushing sense of injustice. Only profound sorrow remained. Scenes from his life flickered past—so much left undone, so many dreams unrealized. And now, to perish so ignobly, his very body stolen by another…
Despair washed over him. A bitter laugh echoed in the fading depths of his mind. His awareness dimmed further, the chaos within his Mind Sea becoming indistinct. He didn't even know whose hands—or claws—would ultimately claim his flesh…
"SWISH!!!"
Just as Lin Feng teetered on the brink of oblivion, a streak of bloody light cleaved through his Mind Sea! Like lightning splitting the sky, it arrived—sudden, overwhelming—plunging directly into the maelstrom where the two Void Tempering souls clashed!
"What… AH!!"
"AAAGH!!!"
Faintly, Lin Feng seemed to hear two cries of utter, soul-deep horror. Then… nothingness.
Gu Lengyue and Feng Liefeng's souls, the instant they touched the bloody light, dissolved like morning mist under a scorching sun. They vanished in the blink of an eye, erased without a trace, as if they had never been.
Within the suddenly, starkly 'empty' Mind Sea, the intruding crimson glow hovered silently for a moment. Then, as swiftly as it came, it retreated, leaving behind only the faintest echo of a sigh:
"Not yet time…"
...
Meanwhile, in the 'outside' world, within the ruined hall, the Blood Demon Blade embedded in Lin Feng's chest flashed once. Its radiance vanished instantly. Then, with a sharp tug, it pulled free from his body and clattered "Clang!" onto the stone floor beside him.
The scene was bizarre. No blood gushed from the spot on Lin Feng's chest where the blade had been. Looking closer, beneath the torn fabric of his robe… there was no wound! Not even a scar!
The terrifying 'blood-flush' that had covered his body was gone. His expression was serene, his body lying perfectly still as if in peaceful sleep.
"Hmm…"
A soft groan broke the silence moments later. An Xiyue stirred, her eyes fluttering open. After a brief moment of disorientation, awareness flooded back. Her face paled. She scrambled upright in alarm, instinctively falling into a defensive stance while her spiritual sense swept frantically across the surroundings.
She exhaled shakily, finding no immediate threats. But then confusion took hold. She saw Lin Feng lying motionless nearby, Xiaoqiu unconscious a short distance away, and… the desiccated corpses of Gu Lengyue and Feng Liefeng.
"Just what… happened here?"
Bewilderment gripped her. The scene was deeply unsettling. Seeing Lin Feng fallen sent a spike of fear through her heart. She fought to steady her nerves, intending to check on him, when another change erupted…
"Humm…"
A vast, powerful surge of true essence erupted from Lin Feng's body without warning! Transparent ripples pulsed outward in visible waves, crashing into An Xiyue. The force sent her stumbling backward "Thud! Thud! Thud!" over a dozen steps, until her back slammed against a pile of rubble, stopping her retreat.
"What… what now?!" An Xiyue cried out, eyes wide with renewed panic. She focused on Lin Feng. He still lay flat, unmoving. Yet, potent waves of true essence energy radiated continuously from his core. This energy was wildly unstable, threatening to explode from within at any moment and tear him apart.
Anxiety clawed at An Xiyue. She had no understanding of what was happening, no idea what to do. Help him? How? Driven by instinct, she tried to step forward again, only to find an invisible, yet impenetrably solid wall of energy pushing her back. The pressure emanating from Lin Feng was overwhelming; her strength was utterly insufficient to breach it.
Helpless, An Xiyue could only watch from a distance, her heart pounding, her gaze fixed on Lin Feng's form.
And Lin Feng? What transformation was he undergoing at this very moment?
...
Within his Mind Sea, Lin Feng had no sense of time passing. Suddenly, a sharp, stabbing pain lanced through his spirit… and he 'woke'.
Consciousness returned, yet he felt utterly disconnected from his physical form. He seemed adrift in a void of darkness and nothingness, sensing nothing.
"I'm not dead?!"
That was his first coherent thought. Before a second could form, violent change erupted!
Within the surrounding chaotic darkness, Lin Feng felt a sudden, turbulent surge. Countless motes of multi-colored light appeared out of nowhere! Like rivers converging into the sea, they surged towards him, crashing into his very being… No, more accurately, flooding into his soul!
"AAAGH!!!" Lin Feng froze for a split second before an involuntary, soul-rending scream tore from his core. An agony like being torn asunder instantly filled his entire spiritual existence. In that instant, he knew what these invading torrents were—Memories! Chaotic, fragmented, nonsensical memories!
Within mere breaths, Lin Feng was inundated with countless disjointed scenes. These fragments bombarded his spirit like shrapnel, threatening to shatter his consciousness once more.
"Gu Lengyue… Feng Liefeng!!" If Lin Feng's soul had a form, it would be clutching its head, teeth gritted as it spat those names. Amidst the initial panic, he had found clues within the chaotic deluge. He understood: he was being flooded with the memories of Gu Lengyue and Feng Liefeng!
"Could this… be 'Body Snatching'?" The thought flashed through his mind. He didn't know the precise mechanics of Soul Theft. Was this part of the process—drowning the host's mind with the usurper's life memories to overwrite their identity?
Was that it?
But why were both sets of memories pouring in simultaneously? Had the two enemies not settled their struggle? Why were the memories so fragmented and disordered? And most crucially, why was there only memory—no trace of the conscious will of either Gu Lengyue or Feng Liefeng?
Countless questions swirled in Lin Feng's mind. No answers came. And he had no time to search for them. As the relentless tide of foreign memories intensified, his own thoughts began to churn and blur into chaos…