Section 91: Subduing the Nightmare Fiend

The supernatural ability of the Dream-Haunting Evil Ghost was formidable, allowing it to turn into a mirror of space and evade attacks with ease. Seeing this, the Eyeless Balance Beast did not retreat; it split its unified law, instantly transforming into ten entities. Though less powerful individually, they gained the advantage of multifaceted, shifting laws.

In the next moment, the shattered mirror grew even more fragmented, yet each shard revealed a reorganized form: a demon from the Heavenly Demon Cave. Hundreds of thousands of miniature demons stood within the mirrors, cold and expressionless. As the shards fully transformed into demons, they devoured one another and combined, bursting forth from the formation as hundreds of irregular, monstrous entities.

"You do not understand our greatness, nor our power!" As was his habit when hunting prey, the Dream-Haunting Evil Ghost spoke these words, yet the moment he finished, he felt something was wrong.

Wuyun knew them too well—perhaps even better than they knew themselves—even manifesting the legendary Eyeless Balance Beast, a divine creature capable of traversing space.

Just as the words faded, the ghost realized that out of the hundreds of demons, one was missing.

That one had been suppressed by Wuyun within the Jade Seal Coffin, slowly being carved apart by the God-Startling Blade, which was wrapped in Buddhist powder. Through this medium, the blade gained an absorbing power, easily eradicating the miniature evil entity.

Wuyun frowned. It was not that he couldn't destroy them, but each eradication cost a Buddhist bead; with one or two hundred of them, his supply would clearly be insufficient.

"I have been too rash. If I were to become an Immortal King, would there be any secrets left in this Immortal Realm?" Even while surrounded by the shifting formation, Wuyun could not help but boast. He grasped the mass of energy absorbed by the God-Startling Blade, studied it for a long time, and marveled, "Such pure spatial power. This is the perfect tool for leaving this world, yet there is far too little of it."

The formation was besieged by various attacks, and the demons’ dark energy continuously eroded the edges.

"You use your own ability to transform into the strength of others—that is a grave mistake. You say I do not understand you, but I feel I understand you better than you do yourself. This spatial power is exactly what I require. How about we reach an agreement? I shall help you become an Immortal Emperor in this realm, and you grant me all of this ability. How does that sound?"

There was no reply from the outside, as if the offer were merely the ramblings of a fool. Wuyun remained unperturbed, using the God-Startling Blade to fend off the invading demonic energy. "Spatial power is divided into over 13.8 billion types, and yours is the most inferior. Look at this divine blade; what do you see?"

The attacks paused. Wuyun’s blade could indeed deflect the demonic erosion and even absorb a trace of it.

"A weapon forged from high-level space. How marvelous! To think I would encounter such a thing."

The Dream-Haunting Evil Ghost suddenly intensified its assault, pouring its demonic energy into every corner of the formation without reservation. Even the expressions of those at the eye of the formation grew hazy and motionless.

"Behold my protective treasure!" Fearing the formation’s core would fail, Lingtong hurriedly called for his disciples to assist. This displeased Wuyun; did they truly need help within his own formation?

Before he could speak, a color of the purest black ignored the eye of the formation and surged in, taking the form of a demon, then shifting into the insect-like shape of the Dream-Haunting Evil Ghost. It spoke in a cold, muffled tone: "Everything ends here. I am very curious—how is it that you know so much about my world?"

Long Yi was alarmed and moved to protect Wuyun, but Wuyun pushed Long Yi and the others toward the formation Lingtong had created, then summoned the Jade Seal Coffin and locked himself inside.

"I do not believe that this second-grade defensive immortal artifact cannot withstand a mere creature like you!"

Wuyun did not bring the others inside, and the ghost did not bother with them, knowing that such efforts were futile; it only needed to display its power, and the latter would inevitably fall.

Ignoring the second-grade immortal artifact, the Dream-Haunting Evil Ghost entered. It felt too smooth; the narrow space allowed for only two cubic meters, forcing them to press closely together.

"If I told you that I learned of your world purely from books, would you believe me?"

Facing the roiling evil energy and the terrifying world reflected within the blackness, Wuyun did not forget to banter, while the latter directly invaded Wuyun’s body.

Soon, Wuyun was covered in black, even his eyes turning pitch-black and bulging, making him look exactly like a demon. As he spoke, endless black gas spewed forth; when he closed his mouth, black mist coiled around him. A triumphant, arrogant voice rang out, filled with sinister laughter.

Before Elder Lingtong could prepare for battle, Feng Qianyu threw out an immortal ribbon, attempting to bind Wuyun.

To everyone's surprise, the ribbon flew around Wuyun, but upon binding him, it slowly turned black. To Feng Qianyu’s fury, the ribbon became a demonic one, a manifestation of the black gas.

A high-grade fifth-tier immortal artifact had become someone else’s property right before their eyes. What exactly was this black gas, that it could ignore immortal artifacts and control their spirits?

Lingtong roared and began to brew a mysterious fire in his mouth, but just as he was about to exhale, Long Yi held him back, threatening, "Do you want to roast my Senior?"

Lingtong pointed at the demonized Wuyun, about to speak, when he noticed the black gas seemed to have discovered something.

No matter how the black gas extended, it could not struggle free from this body.

It was like a dog on a leash that had run for miles, only to find an iron chain tied around its neck—what kind of sensation was that?

The black gas manifested into a human shadow, desperately trying to climb out of the top of Wuyun’s head, but at the critical moment, two legs always remained trapped.

It roared, charging into the body to wreak havoc, but after circling around, it froze.

A hollow shell without heart or lungs?

If not for the cloud of mist obscuring the brain, it would have truly seemed like a high-end puppet.

But why could it not escape?

Why did the entire body feel like a cage? As it prepared to destroy it, countless incomprehensible runes appeared, along with endless chains.

In particular, the layers of Buddhist beads surrounding the brain, various baleful energies, the power of lightning tribulations, and a trace of something indescribably terrifying.

Even the brain itself transformed into the likeness of Wuyun, making faces at it and shouting for it to keep going!

"I have never believed in evil!"

The Dream-Haunting Evil Ghost transformed into countless invisible, rotating blades and charged outward, some even attempting to strike at Wuyun’s spirit.

Hidden deep within the center of Wuyun’s brain were the secrets he had obtained from countless dimensions—his greatest safeguard. It even contained a trace of the aura of the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning and a wisp of Chaos Energy.

If these two were used for mutual destruction, then once the rotating blades entered, they instantly lost their momentum and vanished. What did that mean?

It meant a giant mouth was devouring it!

The Dream-Haunting Evil Ghost grew desperate. It had experienced too many slaughters and too many hardships; it had turned defeat into victory and had been imprisoned as a slave. Finally, it had gained freedom and arrived at its long-desired destination.

After countless strikes, as its energy was absorbed, the Dream-Haunting Evil Ghost finally panicked. Half of its power had been absorbed by Wuyun—all the capital it had painstakingly accumulated, gone just like that?

If they were not of the same kind, how could he absorb its power?

As countless questions arose, it finally realized the truth and roared, "So, you are one who emerged from my world and grew into this shape. I understand now! I understand!"

With this realization, the energy attacking Wuyun vanished, and Wuyun instantly regained control of his body. He looked inward at the mass of black gas huddled in his chest and laughed aloud.

When Wuyun laughed, Xiong Laosan finally recognized him. He asked a few questions in a low voice, and once confirmed, he said worriedly, "Senior, those eyes of yours are not right; they aren't that color!"

Wuyun shook his head and said earnestly, "This evil thing has not been eradicated; it still occupies my internal organs. If I withdraw the evil energy, it will certainly take the opportunity to invade again."

As Wuyun spoke, his eyelids twitched irregularly. Xiong Laosan huffed, "Senior, if you don't withdraw it, you aren't yourself. We cannot trust this; stop trying to fool me and change back for a moment."

Wuyun was reluctant, stalling for a long time, but finally agreed to change for a few seconds. As soon as the black gas receded, a burst of energy erupted from his chest, striking at Wuyun’s brain and eyes again. Yet, just as before, it was utterly useless.

After realizing he had been deceived, the Dream-Haunting Evil Ghost, now a size thinner, turned into an irregular black stone and remained motionless.

At this point, Wuyun reverted to his original appearance. His missing internal organs did not grow back; instead, they were etched onto the stone like grass seeds.

"Since we are from the same world, is it not worth rejoicing? Must you insist on mutual annihilation?"

Wuyun ignored him, stating a fact: "You fled your world because you feared death. You thought this place could offer temporary eternity, that no one could kill you?"

The Dream-Haunting Evil Ghost scoffed, and just as he was about to affirm this, Wuyun said, "I know, even an Immortal Emperor cannot kill you. If you die, you simply return to that world; it does no absolute harm to you."

"But I... I will ensure you cannot return. If you die here, you will die forever. There will be no world left for you to be reborn in. Do you believe me?"

Without waiting for a reply, Wuyun muttered to himself, "Whether you believe it or not, I believe in myself."

The stone fell into silence, motionless. It dared not put it to the test.

After resolving the Dream-Haunting Evil Ghost, the sky within Yi Sheng's soul cleared, as if she had just taken a short afternoon nap.

Then, the power of the Heavenly Demon Cave vanished, and everyone was expelled from Yi Sheng’s soul, reappearing in their original places.

The first thing Yi Sheng did upon opening her eyes, just as Elder Lingtong had feared, was to thrust her sword toward a fellow disciple—the one who had spied on her.

It did not matter if he had saved her; what was done could never be forgiven. One could not simply erase the past by saving a life.

Qingzhou Sheng did not fear; he tested the law with his own body. After being pierced by the sword, he allowed his damaged soul-river to advance a bit further, resulting in severe damage to his primordial spirit.

"Senior Sister, I have no regrets. To die by your sword is to fulfill my greatest wish. Come, shatter my soul!"

"You think that just because you saved me, I dare not kill you!" Yi Sheng was furious, but in the end, her sword did not move.

But Qingzhou Sheng moved. This unremarkable disciple of the 'Sheng' generation, sparing no thought for his own life, allowed the immortal sword to pierce through his entire soul. In an instant, countless memories shattered.

They were all memories of his secret love for her! The bitterness of pining, the tears of longing, all finally withered away.

"Qingzhou!"

Elder Lingtong cried out in grief. Yi Sheng foolishly withdrew her immortal sword. He had sought death himself—how could it come to this? Thinking of the long journey they had taken, and how many fellow disciples had suffered and died...

Yi Sheng felt a tinge of regret, yet even Lingtong could not prevent Qingzhou Sheng’s soul from dissipating.

"Longing is a kind of bitterness, but also a driving force. Without this longing, I would have died long ago! Senior Sister Yi Sheng, it was not that I was cowardly at those times, but that I was protecting you with my life every single moment. As long as you understand, do not misunderstand me; I would be very sad!"

As the past was brought up and one event after another came to light, Yi Sheng stood with red eyes, unable to utter a single word of comfort.

"Before I die, Senior Sister, could you hold me?"

After Qingzhou Sheng finished speaking, seeing her remain indifferent, he closed his eyes. Just as he was about to vanish with the shattering of his soul, Wuyun summoned his coffin, as if catching something. When Qingzhou Sheng drew his last breath and only his physical body remained, Wuyun finally could not hold back.

Wuyun said, "In my past life, I missed out on many girls. Although I am but a cloud, I failed most of them. I cannot bear to see such things, so I am taking charge of this matter."

Lingtong and his disciples were stunned. Was he going to turn him into a puppet for Yi Sheng to keep forever?

Just as Lingtong opened his mouth, Qingzhou Sheng’s body vanished.