Heart-Seizing Baleful Intent
"If you weren't afraid of me, why would you forcibly awaken my Heart Demon?"
By now, Li Boyang had more or less figured out the old man's situation.
After Li Boyang killed him, that strange old man's soul had accidentally fallen into Black Cloud Marsh and become an evil ghost.
Although this evil ghost hadn't been strong at first.
He might even have been weaker than the Malign Baleful Intent recorded in the Nine Chapters on the Secrets of Divination.
But Black Cloud Marsh happened to hold a vicious god sealed away by the Witch of the Huai River-Ruifu.
Perhaps it had simply been a matter of exploitation, or perhaps they had struck some sort of deal...
In any case, the old man, now an evil ghost, had released the vicious god Ruifu and seized the opportunity to transform from an evil ghost into a Malign Baleful Intent.
Immediately afterward, the old man had begun "refining baleful entities" through a cruel method.
Whether it was the Black Baleful Intent that had yet to take shape earlier...
Or the Malign Baleful Intents currently fighting Xiluo and the flying sword...
They were all baleful ghosts the old man had refined by imprisoning living creatures' souls within black mist and using their resentment to make them slaughter and devour one another.
These baleful ghosts were born with different Divine Abilities and were fiercer and harder to deal with than ordinary ghosts and monsters.
Considering how clearly Xiluo and the Sword Pill were being countered by the baleful ghosts.
Li Boyang had reason to suspect that the old man had refined those baleful ghosts specifically to target them.
Perhaps the only thing the old man hadn't anticipated was an interloper like Panhu barging into the fray.
"Panhu's appearance was far beyond your expectations. He possessed a means of truly killing those baleful ghosts."
"So you panicked and forcibly awakened my Heart Demon, trying to turn it into a baleful ghost as well..."
"Unfortunately, those underhanded methods of yours have no effect on me."
The Heavenly Mandate Bone Plastron spun in his palm, and Li Boyang's words successfully broke the old man's composure once again.
"Heh, I didn't forcibly awaken your Heart Demon..."
"That was all your own nature, the killing intent and malice you refuse to acknowledge."
"That hideous, green-faced, fanged appearance earlier was your true form as an otherworldly heavenly demon!"
At this point, the old man's voice paused briefly.
"I refined Malign Baleful Intents with the Guifang Secret Method, and in the end, I even went so far as to merge with them before I barely obtained the power to command them."
"But you, an otherworldly heavenly demon, manifested a shadow baleful entity with nothing more than a little killing intent and evil thoughts!"
"If that mountain god learned what happened to you, she'd probably kill you immediately!"
His malicious words vented the old man's anger and resentment.
Although he had regained his reason, the old man was ultimately a ghost king now.
The resentment and bitterness from his life, coupled with the Malign Baleful Intents' continuous influence, had made him exceptionally extreme and obsessive.
But it was precisely this extremism that allowed Li Boyang to draw more useful information from his words.
"The Guifang Secret Method?"
"Is that what gave you the confidence to turn yourself into this thing that's neither human nor ghost?"
Still laden with disdain, Li Boyang's words pierced the most sensitive part of the old man's heart like sharp thorns.
"You damned otherworldly heavenly demon! If it weren't for you, how could I have fallen to this state!?"
"I was the exalted high priest of the Guifang Kingdom, worshipped by tens of thousands from birth, enjoying every glory and luxury! How could lowly human sacrifices like you fathom an existence such as mine!?"
As the resentment in his heart intensified, the old man's body became increasingly solid.
"But it doesn't matter. I've now mastered the Heart-Seizing Baleful Intent..."
"Once I seize your body, sooner or later I'll be able to return to the orthodox shamanic priesthood."
"When that happens, I'll refine your soul into a dung stone and bury it beneath a cesspit forever!"
Before his words had finished, the old man had already lunged forward.
Although the "Heart-Seizing Baleful Intent" he had become lacked much combat strength, it possessed the ability to "possess without damage."
As long as he could enter Li Boyang's body, the old man was confident he could drive out his soul and regain control of the Divine Firmament Sword.
In an instant, the old man's figure overlapped with Li Boyang's body.
It was also during this process that Li Boyang glimpsed the true nature of the "Heart-Seizing Baleful Intent"-a long, six-legged fish.
Li Boyang had seen records of this strange beast in the "Auspicious Omens Section" of the Nine Chapters on the Secrets of Divination.
It was a special kind of fish born in "Ranyi."
Its body was long like a snake's, yet it had six legs, and its two eyes were elongated like horses' ears. It was born with the ability to commune with spirits.
Clearly, the old man had refined a Ranyi Fish into a Malign Baleful Intent, which was why he dared show himself to possess Li Boyang's body.
The high priest of the Guifang Kingdom?
All three eyes narrowed slightly at once, and Li Boyang could feel himself losing control of his body.
Whoosh!
Seen from a distance, surging Sha Qi poured from the acupoints all over his body and swiftly formed a crimson flame.
To prevent these flames from reaching Chen Yun.
Li Boyang had no choice but to clamber out of the cradle and jump down, doing his best to keep the flames from touching the surrounding tables, chairs, and stools.
At this moment, the toughness of Li Boyang's body became apparent.
Though he was only a few months old, he fell from a cradle more than a meter high without suffering the slightest injury.
Not only that, the balance of his limbs and his jumping ability far surpassed those of a one- or two-year-old child, showing no trace of infantile awkwardness.
And this was while the old man was still fighting Li Boyang for control of his body.
Stop struggling!
Once I seize your body and devour your soul, I'll naturally slaughter this entire village, then offer all their flesh, blood, and souls to the Gods of the Five Directions!
The Gods of the Five Directions were the five great deities worshipped by the Guifang Kingdom, each symbolizing one of five phenomena governing the cycle of life and death and the changes of nature.
They were both Nature Gods and the ancestors of the Guifang Kingdom.
From this point alone, the Gods of the Five Directions far surpassed ordinary mountain and river gods in both divine standing and power, and theirs was indisputably the dominant faith in this region.
The Gods of the Five Directions? Nothing but a pack of evil gods!
He knew nothing of the Gods of the Five Directions' standing in this land.
Li Boyang was simply judging from the perspective of his previous life, believing that gods who accepted sacrifices of flesh, blood, and souls could not possibly be Orthodox Gods.
How arrogant! You dare scorn the Gods of the Five Directions!?
Enraged by Li Boyang once again, the old man tried to take direct control of his body.
To his shock, however, Li Boyang, who had been lying prone on the ground, slowly stood up.
This meant that the old man's control over this body had not strengthened with time; instead, he was being assimilated by the Sha Qi within it.
"Is this what you were relying on?"
There was a hint of mockery in his words, and Li Boyang's childish voice sounded so ironic at that moment.
"You can't even control the flow of Primordial Qi in this body, yet you want to drive my soul out of it?"
"Although my soul can't stop your possession..."
"The Primordial Qi and Sha Qi in my body don't seem to welcome an outsider like you."
Just as Li Hao said, he had not even stopped the old man from possessing him.
The Life Primordial Qi and Qi of Earth Sha within his body instinctively circulated, rejecting the intruder and plundering the Heart-Seizing Baleful Intent's power in turn.