Another Path / Returning to the Heavenly Demon Battlefield ...

If the soul of a cultivator practicing the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record is blood, then the Profound Nether Qi nurtured by the soul essence of the Nine Nether Profound Soul Extract Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record nourishes the soul like water. Water entering the blood naturally strengthens that pool of blood, and because the blood is so concentrated, it is not diluted by the scarce water. Moreover, in addition to this nourishing effect, the soul itself will also naturally strengthen. This strengthening manifests as the transformation of the "water" injected by the Profound Nether Qi into "blood," which is a gradual accumulation process.

The soul is the inner essence of Spiritual Sense, while Spiritual Sense is the external manifestation of the soul.

Therefore, the astonishingly rapid increase in Spiritual Sense due to the Profound Nether Qi is like a flood. If one does not rush to increase their cultivation level and recklessly devour Ghosts to strengthen their Profound Nether Qi within a very short period of time, such dilution will not be too severe. With enough time to accumulate, such side effects are essentially nonexistent.

However, once a large number of Ghosts are devoured, too much Profound Nether Qi is generated, leading to a severe dilution of the soul. This manifests as a lack of willpower and susceptibility to external influences.

Such side effects were applied to Yotsuya Miko. From a mortal to the current Yin God Night Wanderer, the time she took was far too short, too short to allow herself time to accumulate experience. Because of this, in her previous small world, she was influenced by the World Consciousness and, influenced by Zhang Qiudao's will, unknowingly chose the next pawn Zhang Qiudao had planted—a technique related to the Heavenly Demon.

He predicted that Yotsuya Miko's weakened soul would be easily invaded by the Heavenly Demon, and that was exactly what happened; the mutation had already manifested in Yotsuya Miko.

Whether it's the Soul Splitting Flesh Crushing Nail, the Heavenly Devil False Body True Understanding, or the Heavenly Devil Corpse Unraveling Great Method, these techniques are all inextricably linked to the Heavenly Demon. Excessive use will attract the Heavenly Demon's influence, and the most serious consequence is being watched by the Heavenly Demon and eventually having their body possessed.

But this is precisely the most brilliant aspect of the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record, and it is no less impressive than a peculiar technique like the Nightmare Refining Art —it seizes the power of the Heavenly Demon.

Yes, although this alienation is a result of a weakened soul, no demon would invade Yotsuya Miko's body or even possess her due to such a weakened soul. This is because the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record exempts her from such possession by external objects; it will transform all foreign substances into something beneficial to the host.

Even the influence that the Heavenly Yotsuya Miko will be transformed into this kind of alienation, rather than "erosion" or direct "occupation" and "invasion".

If the host can withstand the changes brought about by the alienation, it will benefit from these changes.

The Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record is mechanical and cannot make judgments that conform to human nature. Therefore, in its judgment, alienation is also beneficial to the host, just like its nurturing of the soul and Spiritual Sense.

Chapter 314 Another Path

This is why there was such a big difference between her cultivation of the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record and Zhang Qiudao's cultivation of the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record.

Using her as a test subject, Zhang Qiudao once again demonstrated the absorption of demonic power by his cultivation technique, and then applied it to another thing— World Consciousness.

As mentioned before, Yotsuya Miko's eyes are part of the authority of the small World Consciousness.

This power once contended with the power of the Heavenly Demon within her body. However, after she advanced to the realm of Nascent Soul Stage, the power of the Heavenly Demon far surpassed the power of this authority, and it finally infected this authority. From the outside, it appeared that her originally golden eyes had an additional ring of purple.

Given the inherent conflict between the World Consciousness and the Heavenly Demon, when the Heavenly Demon's power far surpasses that of the World Consciousness, her eyes would be completely destroyed by the Heavenly Demon's power, severing their authority and power.

However, unlike those genuine Heavenly Demon powers, the Heavenly Demon power within her was a product of the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record's mutation. This mutation affected both of these powers, ultimately causing their struggle to end when their authority was corrupted by the Heavenly Demon power.

If her guess is correct, then assuming Zhang Qiudao is still alive, what he needs to do is quite clear: she, as his experimental subject, has demonstrated the feasibility and possibility of this idea to Zhang Qiudao.

The Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhui Realm is now known to be extremely weak; otherwise, it could easily kill these Heavenly Demons with the help of the cultivators of the Xuanhui Realm by simply unleashing its power, and wouldn't be in this troublesome situation now. It should be noted that the true Enlightenment Realm Heavenly Demons have not yet entered this world; only many Nascent Soul Heavenly Demons roam freely.

Those Enlightenment Realm demons wouldn't risk their lives for the currently decadent Xuanhui Realm, lest their own comrades steal the spoils. Besides, they weren't fools; they knew the importance of entering late. They still had a strong impression of Zhang Qiudao of this world. This demon lord, who had once intimidated the demons, had only recently died, and who knew if he was truly dead? If he wasn't, these demons surging into the Xuanhui Realm would be courting death.

After careful consideration, this is the current situation. However, even so, the cultivators of this world are still struggling to fight against the Heavenly Demon, which shows how slim their chances of winning are.

It's quite funny, really. Ever since Zhang Qiudao started hunting and plundering Heavenly Demons, and even forcefully killed and drove away several Enlightenment Realm Heavenly Demons, and even used the most dangerous Enlightenment Realm Heart Demons among the Heavenly Demons as experimental subjects, the Xuanhui Realm rarely saw any Heavenly Demons that were even slightly powerful for a long time. Only many Heavenly Demons with low cultivation levels who didn't know fear and were afraid of Zhang Qiudao's dangers came to the Xuanhui Realm.

Although Zhang Qiudao is the number one Great Demon in the world, his strength is also undeniably that of the strongest person throughout the ages. He even easily accomplished what many Enlightenment Cultivators could not do—destroying heaven and earth and severely injuring the Heavenly Dao.

It should be known how powerful the Heavenly Dao is towards cultivators, like humans are to ants. Even Enlightenment Cultivator are nothing more than slightly stronger ants in the eyes of the Heavenly Dao. But Zhang Qiudao is different; he is a poisonous insect capable of killing people.

Despite how these cultivators are clamoring to tear Zhang Qiudao to pieces, if Zhang Qiudao were to actually appear, there would only be one word left to say: escape.

Not only did they have to flee, but those ferocious demons also had to flee. If it weren't for the fact that the Heavenly Dao couldn't escape, it would have fled too, to stay far away from this monster.

"To be used as an experimental subject by such a vicious person, it's not a bad thing to die."

Yotsuya Miko thought of this cheap master again and suddenly gave a bitter smile.

Perhaps in the eyes of this cheap master, this was also his own good fortune. Although he became his experimental subject, he didn't end up in a terrible state. At least, this master had never considered the possibility of possession.

If she can accept the current transformation of the Heavenly Demon, she can be considered a conscious self after the transformation is complete, only her stance will become that of an opposing party, and it will be something that can never be changed back.

From this perspective, Zhang Qiudao truly treated her like a disciple.

He gave her top-notch cultivation techniques, gave her a powerful body, and taught her all his knowledge. However, there are some things she still needs to comprehend on her own, such as the other hidden dangers of the Nine Nether Profound Soul Treasure Record.

However, if Yi Qiyi had seriously studied how difficult it was for a cultivator's soul to grow strong at the beginning of her cultivation, she should have been able to guess such a hidden danger long ago, instead of only realizing it today.

Ultimately, she knew nothing about cultivation back then, which caused a lot of trouble and led her to her current predicament. She has no one to blame but herself.

"If he hadn't died, this world would be doomed."

Yotsuya Miko murmured to herself, not very optimistic about the fate of the Xuanhui Realm, and she had no lingering attachment to it.

Although I learned a lot about the Xuanhui Realm from Zhang Qiudao's knowledge, the current Xuanhui Realm is no longer the Xuanhui Realm of Zhang Qiudao's time; too much has been lost. Only the "Netherworld" below the Nine Nether and the Eastern Lands remain relatively intact.

Needless to say, the Nine Nether are a strange place born from the Heavenly Dao, where small worlds were created from just a few fragments.

Even though Zhang Qiudao's world-destroying power had little impact on the "Netherworld," it remained relatively intact and functioning normally, with many Ghosts and Netherworld creations.

However, these creations and Ghosts are difficult to bring to the earth, so the Heavenly Dao had no choice but to choose resurrected cultivators to fight against the Heavenly Demons. Furthermore, the "Netherworld" can also be regarded as a last resort for the final battle.

Moreover, if it really comes to that, "Netherworld" won't be of much use, since it's not much stronger than cultivators, just with more bizarre methods. But Heavenly Demons are universally applicable across all realms and have some resistance to various methods.

No matter how intense the war between the Heavenly Demons in the Xuanhui Realm is, it will not affect the Small World. This is why Yotsuya Miko is not concerned about the war in the Xuanhui Realm.

Through his own actions, that small world has broken free from the Xuanhui Realm's dependence, and all the Gate of the Underworld have been destroyed, so there will be no passage connecting the Xuanhui Realm and that small world.

When the Heavenly Demon is able to discover that small world, it will be too low a level for a powerful Heavenly Demon to enter.

The things he left behind in that small world were enough to deal with those low-level Heavenly Demons. It was even possible that the small world could develop to the level of the Xuanhui Realm in the future, where even Heavenly Demons would be wary of entering.

Unlike the Xuanhui Realm's system, Yotsuya Miko and the World Consciousness of the small world reached another path—the eternally standing Samsara Palace, the God of Samsara who accepts the power of life and death in the world and exists forever.

Chapter 315 Returning to the Heavenly Devil Battlefield

"You said you're going to be sent to the Heavenly Devil Battlefield?"

"Yes, the Heavenly Demons have been making frequent unusual moves lately. I have been ordered by the Jade Pure Sect to go to the border with other cultivators to prepare for war. The matter is quite urgent, and I cannot refuse. Therefore, I have been unable to attend to your needs these days. Please forgive me."

With a hint of fear and regret in her voice, Meng Tianyu told the strange man, who was still dressed in black robes, about what had happened.

That is indeed the case. After the Jade Pure Sect representatives were received by the elders, they first examined the cultivation levels of the Heavenly Dragon Sect cultivators, and then informed them of the recent situation of the Heavenly Demons. Upon learning that Meng Tianyu had advanced to the Spirit Embodiment Stage, they specifically included her in this batch of candidates for the Heavenly Devil Battlefield.

Meng Tianyu wasn't surprised by this outcome. The disciples of these major sects had probably already received instructions. Ostensibly, it was a check of the cultivators' cultivation levels to ensure unified command of the Heavenly Devil Battlefield and prevent errors. In reality, it was likely to ascertain the true situation of smaller sects like theirs, sending a group of loyal followers to the Heavenly Devil Battlefield to facilitate the later incorporation of disciples from these smaller sects into their own sects.

These major sects were doing exactly what Meng Tianyu could think of, sparing no effort. Whether it was cooperating with Demonic Path cultivators or annexing these smaller sects, it was all about self-interest. Cooperating with Demonic Path cultivators was beneficial to these major sects, as was annexing smaller sects.

Moreover, after annexing these smaller sects, there would be far fewer obstacles to cooperating with the major sects of the Demonic Path, which can be considered a win-win situation.

However, this approach played right into Meng Tianyu's hands. She was worried about how to achieve her plan without revealing it, but this disciple sent by the Jade Pure Sect did her a great favor.

"... I see."

Hidden beneath her black robes Yotsuya Miko had no doubts, or perhaps she simply didn't care whether the words were true or false. After all, any normal person controlled by poison would want to break free from its grip, and Meng Tianyu was nothing more than an attempt to preserve her life under the poison's control.

"In that case, you may go."

After saying this, she closed her eyes and struggled against the many demonic thoughts that arose in her heart.

As the alienation deepened, her perception became significantly distorted. However, her human memories remained, allowing her to barely anchor her humanity. These past few days, she had been carefully exploring, trying to find the errors in her perception and devising ways to curb them.

Although such struggles will become meaningless in the future, they can still be used to pass the time for now, and can be considered something worth doing.

Well, it's time to leave the Heavenly Dragon Sect.

Thinking of this, he looked at Meng Tianyu, who had already left the secret room, and a cold expression appeared on his face. Then, this expression quickly softened.

"Never mind, she hasn't done anything outrageous lately. We'll detoxify her when she leaves the Heavenly Dragon Sect."

This was extremely easy for her. Although she hadn't learned any alchemy techniques, what she gave Meng Tianyu wasn't any kind of elixir.

It was nothing more than a mass of her flesh and blood.

It is quite clear that the flesh and blood of the Heavenly Demon can neutralize the Heavenly Demon's poison and then unleash the poison again.

"Speaking of which, that mass of flesh and blood has almost been absorbed by her body."

He murmured to himself, and finally fell silent, focusing all his attention on the struggle against the demonic thoughts.

On the other side, Meng Tianyu, who had just emerged from the secret room, showed no emotion on her face. She walked silently down the corridor until she returned to the room she was supposed to be in, and then turned her gaze to the several personal disciples who had already gathered there.

These personally trained disciples are all quite skilled and talented. They are disciples she has spent a long time cultivating. If nothing unexpected happens, many of them will eventually succeed her and the elders in taking over the reins of the Heavenly Dragon Sect become the next elders or sect leader.

She believed she had treated these disciples well, even though Heavenly Dragon Sect was a small sect, the vast majority of resources were given to these personal disciples. Meng Tianyu once only wanted to do one thing, which was to hope that a few of her personal disciples with outstanding talents would emerge to revitalize Heavenly Dragon Sect make it more prosperous.

As the current sect leader of the Heavenly Dragon Sect, Meng Tianyu has tied her life to the future of the Heavenly Dragon Sect. She values Heavenly Dragon Sect too much, and it is precisely because of this that she is unwilling to let the sect suffer any loss.

But now, she suddenly realized that not everyone shared her thoughts. The elders didn't think that way, and neither did she and her disciples...

"I will be heading to the Heavenly Devil Battlefield soon, so you should all focus on your cultivation."

She began to speak, saying that quite a few people from the Heavenly Dragon Sect were going to participate in the battle this time. Apart from a few direct disciples, almost all of her faction were going to the Heavenly Devil Battlefield together, while other factions had far fewer people, or only a few individuals. She simply pretended not to notice and accepted the instructions from the Jade Pure Sect.

After losing most of her own people in the last war between the Heavenly Demons, she should have known about these shady dealings long ago. It's too late for her to be angry and dissatisfied now.

"In addition, Ye Yu, Cheng Xin..."

As the words were spoken, several of the direct disciples stood up, looking at their master with a bewildered expression, unsure of what to do.

Meng Tianyu paid close attention to the expressions of the disciples, not neglecting those whose names had not yet been called. As her Spiritual Sense subtly swept across the area, she noticed the expressions of several disciples and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"You will accompany me to the Heavenly Devil Battlefield to familiarize yourselves with the battle as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, the disciples were initially startled, but when they looked at their master, they couldn't say anything. Ye Yu, who was in the lead, hesitated for a moment, then looked at the disciples beside him, and finally mustered up some courage.

"Master, why are we going to the Heavenly Devil Battlefield?"

"Yes, didn't the sect leader say before that we don't need to go to the battlefield?"

"Then that's what they meant."

Meng Tianyu said indifferently, but his tone became stern as he looked at his disciples who had turned pale.

"So what if you're unwilling?! This trouble will inevitably fall on your heads sooner or later, so you'd better get used to it sooner rather than later!"

Having said that, he turned and walked out of the room.

"Pack your belongings as soon as possible. If you feel your strength is too low, use this time to cultivate quickly."

Chapter 316 Demonstrating Value

Meng Tianyu left without a trace, but those personal disciples who were called out by name and were still in the room were having a much harder time.

After the disciples who had been unharmed left, several people gathered around Ye Yu.

"Senior Sister Ye, the Heavenly Devil Battlefield is so dangerous, what should we do!"

"Yes, yes, why would our master arrange for us disciples to go to the Heavenly Devil Battlefield?"

"Why don't they need to participate in the Heavenly Devil Battlefield? Could it be that Master favors those disciples? But Senior Sister Ye, aren't you...?"

These anxious words echoed frequently in Ye Yu's ears, but her expression suddenly calmed down.

Looking at these disciples before me, I felt they were truly pathetic.

Indeed, her master, being the kind of person she was, had never taught his disciples how to fight for power and profit, let alone how to calculate gains and losses. These were principles that disciples could only gradually understand through experience, and she finally understood them now.

"... No need for further explanation, our master has her reasons for doing this. Besides, our master is now a cultivator at the Spirit Embodiment Stage, and she can certainly protect us on the Heavenly Devil Battlefield. It is also because of this powerful being that the Heavenly Devil Battlefield is much less dangerous than before, and this is our only way to survive."

What he thought in his heart, he said on the surface was something else entirely.

"As Master said, we can escape the Heavenly Devil Battlefield today, and we can escape tomorrow, but one day it will inevitably fall upon us. The current slight weakening of the battle presents an excellent opportunity to enter; after this battle, things will likely become much more difficult. Perhaps Master made this difficult decision by reluctantly sending us to the Heavenly Devil Battlefield, which is actually a good thing for us. After all, it's likely that some of our junior brothers and sisters... will not survive."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but sigh.

"I'm afraid... they are the ones who have been truly abandoned. Master previously said that the war between the Heavenly Demons is escalating to the point that there will be even fewer disciples in the future than there are now. The Heavenly Dragon Sect is a small sect, so it can only reduce the number of disciples it needs. The number of disciples it can supply will probably be much smaller, including us direct disciples. Naturally, some need to be sacrificed to ensure the survival of the other disciples."

"Varied--!"

A disciple was about to exclaim in surprise, but quickly covered his mouth with his hand and glanced outside. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that no one was around, fearing that he might have said something that would have made the other disciples who hadn't been chosen aware of the situation.

"So that's how it is..."

The other disciples were also taken aback at first, but quickly thought about what Ye Yu said and realized that it made a lot of sense, so they changed their original attitude.

"So, Master had thought of something like this?"

One disciple sighed, feeling that this was too unfair to the disciples who were not chosen, but he also couldn't bring himself to give up the spot and tell the unchosen disciples.

After all, people have selfishness and desires, and once their own interests are involved, it is very difficult for them to give up easily.

These disciples, who were originally detached from worldly affairs and did not understand the deeper connections, naturally developed the desire to make a deal with them after hearing Ye Yu's explanation.

Following Ye Yu's line of thought, they suddenly realized what they should do.

Now that Meng Tianyu the Heavenly Dragon Sect is still alive, as a Spirit Embodiment Stage, she is the Heavenly Dragon Sect's greatest backer. Following this sect leader is their best choice. No matter how dangerous the Heavenly Devil Battlefield is, as long as these direct disciples demonstrate their talents, Meng Tianyu will naturally not watch them die easily, but will do her best to save them and tilt her in their favor.

This is both a test for them and a preferential treatment for them.

Although there were some illogical points in Ye Yu's words, they understood that only by demonstrating their value could they be entitled to preferential treatment. Therefore, they were no longer as averse to the Heavenly Devil Battlefield as before.

"Thank you for your explanation, Senior Sister Ye."