As time ticked by, the purple aura around the flower demon deepened, and its eyes and wings began to shift toward a dark, black-purple hue. A terrifyingly eerie power pulsed from its eyes.
'What terrifying power!'
Qi Ping was shocked. Even though he had used [Hundred-Eye Demon Realm] thousands of times, he was still shaken by the aura emanating from the demon now. It was too sinister, too frightening. Without a doubt, an incredible metamorphosis was occurring.
"Chirp... (Big Brother, is Tongtong's evolution still not done? Do you know what its bloodline is becoming?)"
The little fox, having finished its evolution and woken up, burrowed into Qi Ping's arms and watched the flower demon with him. There was shock and a hint of worry in its eyes; the flower demon's evolution looked much more intense than its own.
"Not yet. It looks like it will take a while. I don't know the direction of its evolution either."
Qi Ping shook his head. He had checked many records but had found nothing related to the Hundred-Eye Flower Demon. Based on the current situation, the demon's bloodline would likely undergo a drastic change upon completion. Unlike the fox, whose lineage was stable—eventually leading to the legendary Nine-Tailed Bewitching Immortal Fox—the flower demon was a wildcard.
Fortunately, the rest of the process was stable. A day later, the metamorphosis finally concluded. The flower demon's once pale-purple parts had turned entirely black-purple. Sinister, eye-like patterns that could strike fear into the souls of ordinary cultivators appeared naturally across its body, and its wings now bore two massive, eerie eye-sigils.
A bloodline pressure capable of rivaling Crow-Crow's emanated from the demon. Crow-Crow, who was cultivating on the Scorching Sun Wood, opened his eyes and looked over with surprise.
"Caw... (This bloodline pressure...)"
Sensing the aura, Qi Ping immediately judged its rank: Rank 3 High-grade!
'Incredible!' Qi Ping marveled. He had expected it to reach the mid-grade like the fox; he never expected it to hit the high-grade.
'Perhaps it's the long-term influence of the [Plant Growth] energy...'
[Plant Growth (Limit-Break): Increases the growth rate of plants. Under the baptism of this energy, plants have a higher probability of breaking through their natural limits.]
This was the only explanation Qi Ping could think of. The flower demon didn't consume more honey than the others; the only unique factor was the sheer number of [Plant Growth] casts Qi Ping had showered upon it over the years.
Before he could ponder further, a massive surge of insights descended upon him, and Qi Ping entered a state of comprehension! This trance lasted for two days. When he finally digested the new talent, he was stunned by its power.
Demon-Eye Magic Realm: Your soul contains a special law-sigil. Using this sigil, you can create a special space saturated with the power of inner demons and evil spirits. In battle, you can drag an enemy's consciousness and soul into this space to utterly annihilate them.
'Demon-Eye Magic Realm! A special space!'
The evolved talent was far more powerful than [Hundred-Eye Demon Realm]. The previous version merely released a burst of sinister power to tear at an enemy's consciousness and trigger their inner demons; the weaker the enemy's will, the more damage they took. The new [Demon-Eye Magic Realm] created a specialized space that could not only erase consciousness but also directly tear at the soul, dealing horrific damage. A soul that was too weak would be instantly annihilated. This method of attack could only be described as eerie and terrifying.
Qi Ping felt that the fundamental concept of this talent was extremely high—higher than any soul-attribute spell he had ever seen.
'This talent is definitely worth developing!'
Qi Ping planned to use [Demon-Eye Magic Realm] as a core, integrating more soul-type spells into it to expand its potential. By sharing these insights with the flower demon, they might eventually evolve the talent into something truly apocalyptic. He had collected several soul-type manuals during his purge of the Alliance's affiliates seven years ago.
'It's necessary to have a soul-attack method. This realm is perfect for that. I should also develop a soul-defense spell! If I can find manuals on tempering the soul, I can create a cultivation method for the fox and the flower demon...'
However, Qi Ping remained wary of soul manuals. He had seen many warnings that 'soul techniques must be approached with extreme caution.' Soul manuals were the most common vehicles for the 'Vassal' manual traps; often, the day one succeeded in the technique was the day they became another person's slave.
Thus, Qi Ping only planned to research basic soul-tempering methods for now—techniques he could safely teach his companions. Once he had a large enough sample of manuals to compare, he would create a soul-cultivation method of his own.
Having planned the future of [Demon-Eye Magic Realm], Qi Ping returned to his meditation. He hadn't fully integrated the upgraded [Bewitching Immortal Seal] and [Demon-Eye Magic Realm] yet. This was the best time for such work.
This meditation lasted for over a month. By the end, his soul strength had reached a new level, and he could use [Demon-Eye Magic Realm] with ease. He even discovered an unexpected use for the talent: he could cast a fragment of the magic realm upon himself to trigger his own inner demons, using them as a whetstone to temper his Dao-Heart.
'This gives me a way to sharpen my will. By familiarizing myself with inner demons, I'll be better prepared for the Inner Demon Tribulation later.'
'Now that the fox and flower demon have reached Rank 3, and Crow-Crow has been there for a while, only the bees are still at Rank 2...'