Dissipation

"Forge the Body into a Shield, Train the Fists into Cannons."

Those two phrases had been more than mere words from Zhao Changhe's mouth. At this moment, Ye Wuyou truly felt the blood and vitality surging within him, demanding release.

"Got you."

Eagle Strikes the Sky. Ye Wuyou leaped high, then stomped down hard on the white fox that had already lost its fur.

Boom!

The already dilapidated house could hardly withstand such punishment. A crack split it from top to bottom, and it collapsed.

A black shadow sprang from the rubble and landed on a rooftop.

The Demon Fox, already a wretched sight, looked even more horrifying now, stark white bones visible through its body.

Its movements remained unaffected, however. It glanced down and made to flee.

How could Ye Wuyou bear to let it escape? Amid the billowing dust, he sprang straight out of the rubble and landed in front of the Demon Fox.

He had little time. Half of his three minutes had already passed.

With its escape route blocked, the Demon Fox seemed unperturbed. Instead, it stood there and opened its mouth, now stripped of flesh and skin.

The Demon Fox tilted its head back slightly and let out a roar.

Yet it was not the sound of a Demon Beast.

Instead, the ringing of a bell came from within it.

"Ding... ring-ring."

The ringing was indistinct, as though something were obstructing it.

But that was enough.

The sound could affect a person's mind, especially at such close range.

The Man in Brocade, who was hurrying over, flinched, then froze in place, utterly rigid.

Ye Wuyou's gaze also went blank. He stood rooted to the spot, as though lost in confusion and chaos.

[Hmph, it is merely a sliver of the great Dao aura's cutting force. How could it leave you bewildered? You immediately awaken and deal this damned sticking plaster a fatal blow.]

But Ye Wuyou remained motionless, showing no sign of waking.

[You still do not awaken. Clearly, there is something else strange about this thing. You keep turning it over in your mind...]

The Demon Fox scraped the roof with a raised paw, then shook its head, which no longer resembled a fox's face, seemingly full of disdain.

With a light step, it leaped high, intending to leave.

But while still in midair, the Demon Fox suddenly shuddered, its four limbs flailing wildly as it struggled.

"Crack."

At that crisp sound, the Demon Fox's limbs instantly stopped struggling and hung limp.

That did not mean the Demon Fox had died. After all, the current "Demon Fox" no longer counted as a living thing.

Its limbs had simply been snapped by brute force.

An invisible, spectral-blue giant hand plucked the fox gently from the air and brought it before Ye Wuyou.

With his clothes already in tatters and his hair still disheveled, Ye Wuyou looked like a madman, but his eyes were sharp.

Looking at the Demon Fox held before him, unable to move anymore, he curled his lips into a pleasing smile.

The curve grew wider, his amusement stronger, until he finally could not help bursting into laughter.

"You thought the ringing had controlled me? Hahahaha, I was pretending!"

He was laughing.

Not at the Demon Fox.

He was laughing at that barking thing in his head.

[So that was it. Everything was within your plans. With your exceptional cunning, capturing this vile beast was as natural as water flowing into a channel.]

Oh? The narrator isn't barking back at me?

Still laughing, Ye Wuyou looked past the Demon Fox, then calmly turned his gaze toward the approaching Man in Brocade.

The Man in Brocade clutched his head, muttering.

"Brother Ye, what just happened? I felt like I was about to pass out, but something blocked it for me."

Ye Wuyou swept his gaze over the man's shoulder. His Soul Imprint had almost vanished, and it was precisely that which had briefly obstructed the ringing.

Otherwise, if the Demon Fox had "turned" the Man in Brocade, Ye Wuyou would have had trouble dealing with him under these circumstances.

Seeing that the man was unharmed, Ye Wuyou raised the Demon Fox, which struggled feebly in his grip. "How are you going to deal with this thing? Kill it and take what's inside?"

"It's fine. Just rest, Brother Ye. I have a way."

Despite those words, Ye Wuyou hardly dared to rest. He stood to one side, keeping the distance between them within ten meters, never withdrawing the spectral-blue giant hand.

If anything unexpected happened, he could kill the man outright.

Watching the Man in Brocade work his Divine Ability, Ye Wuyou glanced at the giant hand hovering over the man's head and could not help marveling inwardly.

The "Ghost" Uncanny really was useful. The fact that others could not see him alone made him far more practical than that narrator, which did nothing but bark.

[Bullshit! What damned use is this broken great Dao remnant? It is nothing but a sticking plaster, the kind that clings to someone and never comes off. Every so often, it even harms...]

Hm? Harms what?

Ye Wuyou seemed to have caught something, but the narrator in his mind had already changed the subject and launched straight into its usual madness.

[For a relic of the old age to be used by you is already its supreme honor. You are a giant of the new age, destined to become the one true god standing at the pinnacle of the world.]

Tch.

Ye Wuyou dismissed it with disdain, but did not dwell on anything else. He looked ahead, his expression growing solemn.

As the Thousand Illusions Sect's last disciple, the Man in Brocade had probably learned every secret art the sect possessed.

The bell borrowed from Lin Qingqing hovered over the Demon Fox. The skinned, mongrel corpse trembled lightly, and a glimmer of light emerged from within it.

Ye Wuyou saw it clearly. It was a ball of flesh... no, an eyeball.

The eyeball, the size of an infant's fist, rose into the air and was drawn into the tiny bell.

The bell trembled faintly, as though trying to ring.

Sweat appeared on the Man in Brocade's forehead. His hands kept forming seals, until at last the bell's incessant trembling gradually subsided.

"Phew." The Man in Brocade let out a long breath, then grabbed the bell and tucked it into his robes, his eyes grave.

"This vessel won't contain it for long. It needs to be replaced as soon as possible."

Then the Man in Brocade turned his gaze toward Ye Wuyou and discreetly retreated a few steps.

He had already witnessed Ye Wuyou's methods.

Though Ye Wuyou was only in the first realm, his Divine Ability was stranger than the man's own. He had to be on guard.

Ye Wuyou smiled. "Afraid I'll snatch it?"

A trace of embarrassment appeared in the Man in Brocade's eyes, but he quickly concealed it and spoke solemnly.

"This is the Thousand Illusions Sect's Supreme Treasure, an object of extraordinary value. As its last disciple, I naturally must retrieve it..."

Ye Wuyou stood where he was, his expression calm.

Of course he understood how precious the supreme treasure was.

But why would he snatch it?

Do I need to snatch something that's already mine?

It was already his.

If his prediction was right, the Man in Brocade should dissipate in a moment, turning into a corpse.

After all, from the very beginning, the man had merely been a dead person trapped deep within this thing's Illusion Realm.

Seeing Ye Wuyou remain silent, the Man in Brocade looked somewhat awkward, an unconcealable trace of conflicted emotion showing in his eyes.

After some thought, he solemnly clasped his hands and bowed to Ye Wuyou.

"Brother Ye, I know this object is precious, and your Heavenly Prison is investigating it too. But I hope you'll show mercy and let me have it."

"In my youth, I was deceived by the Demon Fox and brought about a terrible disaster. Only when I woke from the dream did I realize my regret came too late. The Thousand Illusions Sect is the pain of my lifetime!"

"With this object, I can rebuild the Thousand Illusions Sect within ten years and bring it into the ranks of Great Yan's foremost sects."

"When that time comes, Brother Ye, you may take whatever you need."

"Of all the treasures within the Thousand Illusions Sect, whatever share I have, you shall have as well. I can swear a heart demon oath on these words!"

The Man in Brocade's expression was sincere, his words earnest, with no sign of falsehood.

Ye Wuyou could sense that, at least at this very moment, the man meant what he said.

But now he had a question, one that left him increasingly uneasy.

Why hasn't he dissipated yet...?