Chapter 1028: Soul Fusion

Happiness is a day, and unhappiness is also a day, so why not be happy every day?

(From "A Mortal's Journey to Immortality, Volume 6: Heavenly Spiritual Treasure," posted 2009-12-15 07:38)The wooden box was enveloped by a green light emanating from a wooden ruler positioned above it. With a flash of spiritual light, the silver glow immediately vanished, and the box became eerily still once more.

It appeared utterly bizarre!

Anyone scanning the area near the table where the silver box was enshrined would have been even more startled. A figure stood motionless, a dozen *zhang* away from the altar.

This individual, clad in a blue robe with a red scarf and green patterns flickering on their face, was none other than Hua Tianqi, the Grand Elder of the Poison Saint Sect.

However, at this moment, Hua Tianqi's eyes were slightly closed, and his expression was blank. Blood flowed ceaselessly from his seven orifices—his ears, nose, and so on. Were it not for the faint, continuous rise and fall of his chest, anyone would have surely mistaken him for dead.

The other three elders of the Poison Sect were nowhere to be found; they had not entered the hall with him.

Yet, faint sounds of explosions emanated from outside the hall's entrance, suggesting someone was trapped within some kind of restrictive formation.

Meanwhile, within the mysterious space that restricted the wolf, the purple light in the black wolf head's eyes disappeared, and a woman's voice simultaneously issued from its mouth:

"Bloodflame, so it was you. I thought you had long since retreated back to the Saint Realm. I didn't expect you would remain in the Human Realm until now." The voice was melodious and pleasing to the ear, bearing a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to that of the woman who had trapped Xiang Zhili that day, though with less charm and a touch more icy coldness.

"Greetings, my Lord. When I set out back then, I was a step too late and nearly perished from the human cultivators' pursuit. Had those human cultivators not believed I possessed knowledge of the passage from the Saint Realm to the Human Realm, intending to slowly extract and interrogate my soul, I wouldn't have survived until today," the ancient devil respectfully replied.

"Oh. Your luck wasn't bad. The spatial rift that led into the Spirit Glimmering Garden back then had already shattered shortly after we entered the Human Realm. What 'passage' would there be?" The black wolf head mentioned the Human-Demon War of yesteryear, showing no sign of excitement, merely nodding.

"This is the ancient demon that nearly wiped out all cultivators from ancient times?" The big-headed eccentric watched the ancient devil and the giant wolf converse with cold eyes. Seeing the black wolf head speak slowly and methodically in a woman's voice, without a trace of demonic aura, he felt a secret surprise.

"Since you've come here, you must have planned everything out. However, let me remind you of one thing: rescuing me isn't as easy as you think. Putting other matters aside, just the Great Cycle Astral Chains binding me are something you cannot break with your current cultivation. This item is a treasure that originated from the Spirit Realm, specifically designed to counter our Saint Race," the black wolf head said indifferently, lowering its gaze to the dense, dark chains covering its body.

"Rest assured, Ancestor! Since I've come, I naturally made thorough preparations. This time, not only will Fellow Daoist Ye lend his assistance, but I have also gathered several demonic artifacts that can break these chains," the ancient devil replied, appearing confident and prepared.

"You actually have demonic artifacts to assist you? In that case, there is indeed some possibility of removing these Great Cycle Astral Chains. However, even so, I still cannot let you cast your spell immediately!" The black wolf head shook its head.

"Why is that?"

At this, the twin-headed, four-armed ancient devil was greatly surprised, purple-red light flickering ceaselessly in its eyes. The strange man from the Ye family was also momentarily stunned!

"It's simple. These astral chains are not the most powerful restriction binding me. Look at where we are standing right now," the black wolf head said with a soft sigh.

"Where we are standing?" Both the ancient devil and the big-headed eccentric couldn't help but look down at their feet simultaneously. Yet, apart from the black teleportation array they had used to enter, there was nothing else.

Both of them were completely bewildered.

"Do you think this place is truly a space where one can freely enter and exit? This is merely a certain Heavenly Spiritual Treasure, using its power to magically isolate a particular area on the eighth floor. As soon as you make any slight movement, this treasure will immediately activate and transport you out of here. Entering this place again would not be so easy. Moreover, these external forces are not the main reason I've been trapped here for so many years. The biggest problem lies with this Silver Moon Demonic Wolf body." The black wolf head slightly shifted its head, glancing at the silver wolf head on the other side of its body, which was still in a deep slumber. A hint of solemnity finally appeared in its eyes.

Neither the ancient devil nor the big-headed eccentric was an ordinary individual. Upon hearing this, they both looked at the silver wolf head, which was distinctly different from the black one, and suddenly had a realization, vaguely guessing what was going on.

"Wasn't the Silver Moon Demonic Wolf's primordial spirit devoured by the Ancestor back then? Could something else have happened?" the ancient devil asked hesitantly.

"Hmph! Do you know how I was captured back then? It was precisely because this wolf demon tampered with things when I possessed it! It actually possessed two main primordial spirits. One was severely wounded by me and escaped, leading me to believe I was safe from then on. But the other used a secret technique to hide somewhere within its body. At a critical moment, while I was battling the three elders of Kunwu, it suddenly counterattacked. That's why I ended up being sealed for so many years," the black wolf head said, a trace of anger appearing on its face.

"Two main primordial spirits? Could it be the rare 'two souls in one body' phenomenon?" the big-headed eccentric exclaimed involuntarily upon hearing this.

"You humans certainly know quite a bit. This silver wolf indeed possesses two complete souls. Originally, there was only one wolf head, but as soon as the second wolf soul appeared, another wolf head immediately manifested to contend with me for control of this body. Furthermore, this wolf demon's cultivation technique is bizarre; even though I presumptuously possessed this body for such a long time, I never detected anything amiss."

The black wolf head murmured, seemingly still very puzzled.

"So, that wolf demon's second soul still exists?"

"Of course, it exists. After being captured by those human cultivators, I only then learned that this Silver Moon Demonic Wolf was actually the beloved consort of Heavenly Kui Divine Wolf, one of the seven great Demon Kings of the Spirit Realm, and also one of the few spirit demons whose true body had descended to the Human Realm at that time. The reason I could easily possess this wolf demon back then was that it had just descended to the Human Realm and was suffering from a severe loss of vital energy; I merely took advantage of that. Otherwise, with this silver wolf's cultivation at its peak, I, merely a wisp of a soul, wouldn't necessarily have succeeded. However, the fact that this silver wolf was 'two souls in one body' truly caught me by great surprise, causing me a significant loss. By then, though, I had already occupied this body for several years, and more than half of its physical body had been successfully demonized. Even when I was captured and left to their disposal, those human cultivators couldn't force me out of this body, nor did they dare to rashly destroy both me and the body together. They could only temporarily seal me within the Demon Suppression Pagoda," the black wolf head recounted leisurely.

The ancient devil remained relatively calm, but the big-headed eccentric, upon hearing these ancient secrets, couldn't help but be stunned.

"So, that means the second wolf soul is now also within this body?" The ancient devil let out a bitter laugh, its four massive eyes simultaneously fixing on the silver-white wolf head.

"Not at the moment, but she should be back soon. Speaking of which, you two are quite lucky to have awakened me at this very moment," the black wolf head said with a soft, charming laugh.

"Ancestor, what do you mean by that?" A chill ran down the ancient devil's spine.

"It's simple. When the ancient cultivators sealed me here using the spirit-nullifying land created by the black flag, they specifically extracted the second wolf soul's primordial spirit and, not sparing any effort, built a separate palace filled with spiritual energy nearby to house it. As a result, at first, this demon king's beloved consort's second soul would return to this physical body almost every so often to contend with me for control. Once it couldn't sustain the struggle, it would immediately return to its dwelling to recover its damaged vital energy. Because I was sealed, I could only rely on the demonic energy within my body to counter her actions. With her gaining strength and me losing it, I was at a great disadvantage before long. To avoid truly being forced out, I had no choice but to use Soul Fusion to resist her," the black wolf head said with unusual calmness.

"What? Soul Fusion! You already..." The ancient devil's four eyes simultaneously showed a look of horror; for a moment, it even forgot its respectful address.

"Yes, I have already merged with her to become a new soul, with her divine sense as the dominant one and mine as the subordinate. However, at first, the new soul was unstable. Moreover, when the ancient cultivators saw the new soul, they recognized that I had merged with it and refused to acknowledge her identity, thus not unsealing her to let her out. But given her special status, the ancient cultivators dared not easily harm her. They simply abandoned Kunwu Mountain altogether, thoroughly sealing it. As a result, our two souls have been in a bizarre state of sometimes fighting and sometimes merging. It wasn't until over ten thousand years later, after re-merging, that it finally stabilized completely, a perfect fusion. However, a few days ago, the new soul, in order to draw a secretly infiltrating Soul Transformation stage cultivator into the Illusory Heavenly Phenomenon, suffered a great loss to its divine sense. That's when I and the wolf demon's soul were able to split apart again. But this time, it's probably the last time we will split. Once the second wolf soul awakens from its slumber in that spiritual energy-rich place, we will merge into one again." The black wolf head maintained an indifferent tone while recounting these matters.

Meanwhile, the ancient devil and the big-headed eccentric were utterly dumbfounded!

"Ancestor, will the merged new soul be a demon, or a member of our Saint Race?" the ancient devil asked with a bitter laugh after being stunned for a long while.

"What do you think?" the black wolf head retorted indifferently.

The ancient devil could only remain speechless.

"Since you've explained it to us in such detail, there must be a way to prevent this, right? If there's anything you want to say, please just say it directly," the big-headed eccentric said suddenly after a brief moment of thought.

"Oh, speaking of which, I haven't asked you yet: you, a human, would actually assist Bloodflame? You must have some ulterior motive, right? I see that your body doesn't have much vitality left; it seems your lifespan is nearing its end. Are you hoping that I, the Ancestor, will imbue you with demonic energy?" A purple glint flashed in the black wolf head's eyes; it didn't answer, but instead spoke meaningfully.

"Since you've already seen through it, there's nothing for me to hide. I, Ye, would rather fall into the demonic path forever than simply perish. If that were the case, what would my nearly thousand years of arduous and cautious cultivation, and countless brushes with death, have been for? Was it just to let myself return to dust and dirt once more?" At this point, the big-headed eccentric no longer attempted to conceal anything, and his face subtly contorted into a fierce expression.