Something similar had happened back in Shuiyun Village when he killed the flood dragon — but the volume then had been nowhere near what it was now.
The sheer density of the white mist gave Shen Yi a quiet moment of surprise.
Though thinking about it, it made sense.
The Division suppressed noble families and sects, cleared out unlicensed shrines and demon altars, and always built its yamen and the General’s residences in the most visible positions in every city. All of it was designed to ensure the people always knew exactly who was keeping them safe.
It was, admittedly, protection that barely held together — demons still ate people with some regularity. But as far as Shen Yi could see, the Division’s problem was one of strength, not of intent.
The common people sustained the Demon Suppression Generals with their faith, and those Core-Nurturing cultivators did genuinely try to kill demons. Each side supported the other.
Without the Junior Demon King as a variable, keeping Qingzhou stable would not have been an empty promise.
“…”
Old General Chen had left his instructions before departing.
Shen Yi saw no reason to hold back.
He channeled demonic lifespan into the Heaven-Devouring Core-Consuming Art. The vast white mist was swallowed by the inner core in an instant.
The path infant and the divine spirit were different roads to the same place.
Though their natures differed, the process of condensing them was largely the same.
With one successful attempt behind him, it took only three hundred years for the divine spirit seed to take on the complete shape of an infant.
Shen Yi observed it for a moment.
He found he could use his divine sense to stimulate it and issue instructions. It took less time than before, though the little thing’s consciousness was still quite thin, and it understood slowly.
Even so, he could already feel the white mist around him responding to it.
Hmmm—
Deep Abyss gave a faint tremor and shot out of its sheath, hanging in the air before him.
“So this is what General Chen meant by borrowing the divine spirit’s power.”
He had assumed the old man closing his eyes on Qingfeng Mountain had been the divine spirit leaving the body. It turned out he had only been dropping into his inner vision to check on the child.
Now that he had merged with the path infant, he had no spare divine sense left to give the divine spirit.
This was why no one else had ever thought to cultivate both at once — not because it was impossible, but because it was pointless.
A single stream of divine sense did not need two vessels, and could not control both.
Worse, as time passed and the divine spirit’s consciousness grew, it would inevitably learn to resist.
A being condensed from accumulated faith was considerably gentler than the Heaven-Devouring path infant formed from demon qi — but only relatively speaking. That did not make it harmless.
Once it was fully grown, even in the most optimistic scenario — even if it did not turn on him — it would certainly stop taking orders. Its entire existence would be devoted to breaking free of its constraints, escaping the qi-sea, and going wherever it pleased.
Shen Yi’s plan was to use the panel to forge a demon soul, and have that demon soul take control of the divine spirit.
He wasn’t entirely sure this would work.
But with the Solar-Fusion Furnace and his powerful divine sense, a rebellion was out of the question. The worst case was that he had raised it for nothing and wasted a great deal of accumulated faith.
“Keep going.”
Shen Yi looked back at the white mist filling the air, and continued channeling demonic lifespan into it without restraint.
He kept these things to himself. Things were not actually as easy as he made them seem.
Killing the Junior Demon King had brought many gains — and had also made enemies he knew nothing about.
He had not been especially worried at first. He was, after all, a named member of the War Temple. If things got truly dire, he could always take shelter there temporarily.
But after hearing Jiang Qiulan’s explanation, Shen Yi had realized the situation was nothing like what he had imagined.
The War Temple, with all its imposing golden dharma forms — was struggling to protect itself.
The two unfamiliar immortal sects, from what Jiang Qiulan had implied, were not particularly kind either.
If he wanted to live, he would have to rely on himself.
And what troubled him most was that his path was running out of road.
The Immortal-Demon Nine Transformations had Mixed Origin as its ceiling. The Heaven-Devouring Core-Consuming Art had reached Perfection. Shattering the inner core was only a matter of accumulated strength and time — and with both techniques combined, he would certainly reach a level no weaker than the General or the Howling Moon, and likely considerably stronger.
And yet even the golden dharma form inside the War Temple was seriously wounded, and it was at Spirit-Transformation.
“…”
The situation was almost identical to Baiyun County — except that back then he had at least had a direction, a path into the Division to obtain techniques.
Now he had no ideas at all.
It looked as though once again he would have to rely on those residual impressions to derive whatever demon techniques he could scrape together.
He had to leave himself a way out.
If he failed to derive more advanced techniques through the panel, the War Temple’s Golden Body methods might be his only path to Spirit-Transformation.
The demonic lifespan drained rapidly. All of Linjiang Prefecture’s accumulated faith converged toward this one point.
Until the white mist was completely gone — not a single wisp remaining.
Within the Heaven-Devouring inner core, beside the crimson path infant, a faint and tender figure slowly sat upright.
【Year 920 — you successfully condense a complete divine spirit.】
【Remaining Demon Lifespan: 5,403 years】
Nine hundred years, from divine spirit seed to complete divine spirit — already faster than General Chen had managed.
Shen Yi looked silently at Deep Abyss floating before him — and found it trembling, its tip slowly turning to point at him. “…”
Something cold crossed his face.
The next instant, the suppressive force within his qi-sea became an invisible hand that closed around the divine spirit’s throat. Not the light disciplinary slaps from before — this carried a clear, dense killing-intent.
“It’s only been nine hundred years. I don’t mind starting over.”
As though it had heard the threat, the divine spirit shuddered, and obediently guided Deep Abyss back into the scabbard at the young man’s waist.
This divine sense had once personally fought and destroyed a path embryo consciousness far more powerful than itself. The faint edge of ruthlessness it carried left the divine spirit with no doubt whatsoever that the young man was not joking.
“…”
After a long moment, Shen Yi released the suppressive force.
To forge a demon soul, he still needed upward of four thousand years of demonic lifespan.
As for the target — the Howling Moon Demon King would be ideal. If that proved impossible, the Junior Demon King’s reserves would do as a substitute.
For now, Linjiang Prefecture’s accumulated faith had been completely absorbed, and General Chen’s strength was significantly reduced. Shen Yi intended to stay in Linjiang for the time being until it had partly recovered.
And in the meantime, he could deal with the divine spirit.
Eating without working — that kind of arrangement did not exist in this world.
Shen Yi went to the door and called over a deputy commander. “Do me a favor — bring me all the records on the demons that have been active in Linjiang Prefecture.”
“Understood, sir!”
The deputy commander stood to attention, hands clasped tight.
Anyone with eyes could see it — Linjiang Prefecture was about to change. This young General Shen had clearly made up his mind to take over for General Chen.
He lowered his voice. “General Shen — should I summon the personal attendants back to report?”
“No need.”
Shen Yi shook his head. The Howling Moon’s Core-Nurturing demon lords had all withdrawn — but ones like the toad lord, the kind that had been lurking in their own dens and were already being watched, would most likely find it impossible to retreat.
He had nothing else to do anyway. Whatever he could earn, he would.
(End of Chapter)