Chapter 846: Disintegration Transformation

"You know about our Sacred Realm?" A hint of surprise flickered across the scholar's face as he looked at Wei Wuyai, clearly taken aback.

"I don't know much about the ancient Demon Realm, but I know you were irreconcilable enemies with ancient cultivators and once tried to conquer our human world. That's enough for me," Wei Wuyai said coldly from within the green mist.

Upon hearing this, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master and Wang Tiangu's expressions immediately changed. Black light shimmered around them simultaneously, and wisps of dark energy emerged, enveloping them in protection.

The two cautiously stared at the scholar, instinctively stepping back a couple of paces.

Although neither of them had ever heard of the ancient Demon Realm or ancient demons, seeing Wei Wuyai treat the situation with such gravity, combined with the scholar's fearless demeanor, naturally heightened their vigilance.

"What I am is not something you three need to know right now. But I intend to make a deal with you. If successful, it could instantly elevate your cultivation realms. Even reaching the Soul Transformation stage isn't impossible. Are you three interested in hearing more?" the scholar said, his expression unchanged, enunciating each word.

"Oh, such good fortune? Do tell!" The Ghost Spirit Sect Master and Wang Tiangu exchanged glances, replying without showing emotion.

"It's simple. You must have noticed the ancient demon body behind me. I want you three to help me remove its seal. In return, I will use this body to open a crack leading to the Sacred Realm, then borrow true demon qi from a Sacred Ancestor Lord to infuse you three with demonic energy, forging unparalleled demonic physiques. From then on, you will become members of my Sacred Realm. What do you think? With your innate talent, once the infusion succeeds, your cultivation will certainly advance by leaps and bounds, and reaching the Soul Transformation stage will be just around the corner." The scholar's voice was filled with temptation.

"Remove the seal? Infuse demonic energy?" The Ghost Spirit Sect Master's heart pounded with excitement.

The prospect of instantly increasing their cultivation and even reaching the Soul Transformation stage was incredibly appealing to cultivators.

He glanced over and saw Wang Tiangu also looking back, visibly moved. Clearly, Wang Tiangu was tempted as well.

"What are you two thinking? Do you really believe that after being infused with demonic energy, you'll still be yourselves? You might lose your minds and become mere puppets of an ancient demon!" Wei Wuyai, having lived so long, was naturally cunning and saw through their thoughts immediately. He promptly enlightened them without hesitation.

"Brother Wei, what do you mean by that?" Upon hearing this, Wang Tiangu felt as if cold water had been poured over him, immediately sobering up.

"What do I mean? How can you trust the words of a demon from another realm? While I don't know the specifics of this 'demonic energy infusion,' do you really expect a good outcome from forcing such a murky energy to boost your cultivation without considering your original foundational realms?" Wei Wuyai said mercilessly from within the poisonous mist.

With each word, the Ghost Spirit Sect Master and Wang Tiangu's faces grew uglier. After hearing everything, their gazes towards the scholar turned unusually cold and hostile.

Hearing this, the scholar frowned and parted his lips, seemingly intending to say something more to persuade them. But then, a strange expression appeared on Wei Wuyai's face.

Suddenly, from a pile of stones about ten feet behind the scholar, a sharp shriek erupted. A slender black shadow shot out without warning, instantly piercing the scholar's abdomen before continuing for over a hundred feet. It then hovered in mid-air.

It was a strange, jet-black small snake with an incredibly sharp head and a thumb-sized, snow-white horn, as pointed as a sword tip. Its body was devoid of scales, yet it was dark and gleaming.

A large, bowl-sized hole burst open in the scholar's abdomen. Since he was a ghostly being, there was naturally no blood, but a walnut-sized, jade-green crystal core inside him had been largely shattered, with only fragments remaining in the cavity.

"You knew where my soul stone was?" The scholar looked down at his abdomen, a look of disbelief in his eyes.

Just then, Wei Wuyai's emotionless voice came from within the green mist:

"I don't cultivate the Ghost Dao, so naturally, I wouldn't know about soul stones. But my Soul-Shattering Serpent is adept at dealing with spirits and wraiths. Eradicating a wraith formed from a wisp of spirit essence is effortlessly achieved."

Hearing this, the scholar's face twisted into a wry smile. Then, with a soft burst, his entire body disintegrated into a swirling mass of grayish-white mist.

The Ghost Spirit Sect Master and Wang Tiangu were somewhat surprised by this sight, but after glancing at the massive demonic creature not far away, they also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fellow Daoist Wei, should we destroy this ancient demonic body?" Wang Tiangu found himself asking, feeling a sense of oppression just by looking at the demonic physique.

"If it could be destroyed, do you think the ancient cultivators wouldn't have done so? Let's keep everything as is and leave this place quickly," Wei Wuyai said, shaking his head after a moment of silence.

Wang Tiangu still hesitated, but the Ghost Spirit Sect Master, after a moment of silence, agreed:

"Brother Wei is absolutely right. This place is truly strange; it's best we leave sooner rather than later."

Seeing both of them concur, Wang Tiangu naturally had no further objections and turned to ascend into the air. But just then, an unusually calm voice suddenly came from behind them:

"Who gave you permission to leave? Since you've arrived at the site of this venerable one's demonic body seal, do you truly believe you can leave here alive? You refuse the toast and choose the forfeit, then leave your lives behind!"

Hearing that familiar voice, Wang Tiangu and the others were naturally greatly shaken. With incredulous expressions, they hastily turned around to look.

They saw that the mass of white dark energy, which had been dispersed, had not dissipated. Instead, it was now gathering as if alive, reforming into a solid mass.

In an instant, a grayish, single-horned ghost head materialized, its eyes glaring fiercely at the three of them.

The Ghost Spirit Sect Master, quick as lightning, raised a hand, and a black flying dagger shot out like a long rainbow, slicing straight through the ghost head. However, the two severed halves of the ghost head instantly rejoined, surrounded by the swirling gray energy, seemingly unharmed.

Witnessing this, all three gasped in shock, their faces revealing dismay.

The Ghost Spirit Sect Master's heart sank even further.

The Ghost Spirit Sect itself specialized in secret arts like ghost-exorcising and soul-slaying. As its master, his personal flying dagger, after its refinement, also possessed immense power in this regard. Yet now, facing this ghost head, it had no effect whatsoever; he couldn't even destroy it.

This truly gave the Ghost Spirit Sect Master a growing sense of unease.

Seeing this from within the green mist, Wei Wuyai immediately let out a sharp whistle. Hearing this sound, the black, horned snake hovering in the air darted forward, instantly transforming into a black streak and shooting out again. At the same time, the green mist churned, and a terrifying jade-green hand suddenly emerged, shaking once before turning into a green rainbow and fiercely grasping at the ghost head.

Wang Tiangu and the other clearly had no intention of letting Wei Wuyai fight alone. One spun rapidly in place, a subtle change of dark energy enveloping the ghost head. The other took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and spat out a glittering golden skull that charged forward with a ghostly howl.

The three joined forces in an instant!

But just then, the ghost head in the gray mist suddenly rose, letting out a continuous, piercing, and strange shriek. Almost simultaneously, the massive demon body sealed within the crystal responded, glowing with a dark, inky light. Its eyes suddenly opened, and two blood-red beams of light shot out from them, enveloping the ghost head and forming a vibrant red blood shield around it.

A thick, sanguine aura immediately spread throughout the area.

At this point, the various attacks reached their target, causing a continuous roar. Black energy and green light flared, instantly engulfing the blood shield.

But moments later, the expressions of Wei Wuyai and the other two changed. They hastily retracted their techniques, stopping their attacks in alarm, and the blood-red shield reappeared.

The black energy generated by the demonic technique and the gigantic hand formed from poisonous mist were instantly and silently absorbed upon contact with the shield, making it three times thicker. However, the black snake and the golden skull continued to fiercely assault the light shield without exhibiting this strange phenomenon.

In the brief moment the three stared at each other, the sealed demon body underwent another astonishing transformation. Its dark glow receded, then abruptly shifted from light to dark, turning blood-red. Wisps of bloody light also began to emanate from its body.

In the blink of an eye, the colossal demon body became blindingly bright, completely transforming into pure light.

Correspondingly, the single-horned ghost head within the blood-red light shield, currently situated in the center of the swirling, exotic bloody light, had its eyes tightly shut. Beneath it, countless dark-red, worm-like light fragments were hissing as they coalesced into the shape of a normal human body.

The bloody tendrils of light flashed incessantly. Muscles and bones, eerily reddish and glowing with a sanguine hue, continuously formed. Countless threads of light rapidly, layer by layer, combined to create the outer skin... The strange and eerie sensation left the Ghost Spirit Sect Master and the others dumbfounded and their scalps tingling.

In the blink of an eye, not only the body beneath it, but also the single-horned ghost head itself became enveloped in the bloody light, as pieces of blood-red flesh rapidly coalesced and took shape.

Wang Tiangu's gaze shifted, and he noticed that as the humanoid body within the blood shield took form, the blood-red light mass that was once the demon body in the crystal rapidly diminished. Between the two, the original two blood-red light beams connected them. After a brief moment of thought, he immediately recalled a legendary secret technique and cried out in alarm.

"Disintegration and Transformation! This is the supreme secret art of demonic cultivation, Disintegration and Transformation!"

At the same time, he raised both hands, and two dark beams of light shot out, directly slicing towards the two connecting blood-red light pillars. These were actually two palm-sized copper plates, upon which black runes ceaselessly flowed.

At that moment, Wei Wuyai and the Ghost Spirit Sect Master, startled by Wang Tiangu's cry of "Disintegration and Transformation," looked over without a second thought.

They saw the two copper plates inserted between the two light pillars. Immediately, black spiritual light flared, and the blood-red light pillars abruptly severed.

At that moment, the demon-man with the ghost head and human body, whose lower half had already completed its transformation, sensed something and opened its eyes. Two eerie lights, one black and one purple, suddenly shone brightly, and a cruel, sinister smile appeared at the corners of its mouth.