A Demon's Path Chapter 102

Li Yuanchong already looked extremely grave and stern, but there was also a hint of coldness now. "That should be the case. The ancient books in Heavenly River City has written records of this kind of situation. If one receives a stimulant greater than their mind can bear when they're already physically and mentally exhausted, they'll produce a kind of demonic qi called Nightmare in their minds."

Ling Xiao pondered about it for a moment. Finally, he continued on from where Li Yuanchong left off, "The Nightmare in Zheng Hao's mind isn't just his own. If it were, it wouldn't be so powerful." Ling Xiao was very confident in himself when he said this. If even he could suffer under the attack of the Nightmare, it showed exactly how powerful it really was.

"Yes, possibly so. Hao's mind was extremely weak at that time. There were remnants of demonic qi in the Undead when they died, and they exerted themselves on Hao's body like parasites. We just didn't notice it before because Hao hadn't yet taken the Soul Returning Grass, so he was unconscious."

Li Yuanchong's explanation was clear as day. After listening to what he said, Yang Chao and Yue Mingming could only helplessly worry for their friend. "What are we going to do?"

Li Yuanchong fell silent for a moment before replying, "There are two ways to solve this problem. The first one is to find a Celestial Spiritual Wisdom Soul Master whose mental strength is stronger than Ling Xiao's to help dispel this Nightmare."

Someone who had stronger mental strength than Ling Xiao? Their faces darkened. They didn't exactly know how powerful his mental strength was, but they knew one thing. Save for the powerhouses, there were very few people in the entire Clear Sky Continent who had stronger mental strength than Ling Xiao.

Could they possibly ask the Master of the Principal Intelligence Hall and member of the Seven Grand Holy Lands, Wang Zeyuan to undertake this task and come to their aid? What a joke. He was famous for being a selfish bastard. If it didn't benefit him, he wouldn't move. On top of that, as far as Wang Zeyuan was concerned, personally undertaking a task to save a junior was unthinkable. A year ago, he didn't even hesitate to sacrifice the lives of the civilians in Northern Jade City just to kill Ancestor Qi Mo. How could he make a move for a mere junior?

"Then… what's the second method?" Yue Mingming asked, slightly pained. Even though Li Yuanchong had yet to say what it entailed, he knew one thing. Since it wasn't said first, it was naturally even more difficult to achieve.

"With an array." A determined light shone in Li Yuanchong's eyes. "We have a special array that can help remedy this situation in Heavenly River City. It's called the Heavenly-Spiritual Empowerment Array. It draws out a person's Heavenly and Spiritual Wisdom soulforce and assimilate it into another's Spiritual Wisdom acupuncture point. In doing so, one can help the other drive out the Nightmare."

After hearing the explanation, Yang Chao and Yue Mingming felt a chill shoot through their hearts. Putting the probability of this method aside, they could imagine just how dangerous it was from the mere fact their Heavenly and Spiritual Wisdom soul would be forced out of their own body and into Hao's. If anything went wrong and they lost two of their seven souls, they'd be a vegetable, a human without spirit and consciousness.

"It just so happens to be that we need four people to set up this array. After our Heavenly and Spiritual Wisdom souls become abstract entities and assimilate into Hao's soul, we'll feel Hao's frightened heart." Li Yuanchong's voice was calm and tranquil. But all four of them understood how extremely dangerous this plan was. "With the help of the array, our Heavenly and Spiritual Wisdom souls will increase in strength to a certain extent. However, whether we succeed or not depends on our resolution. It has to be firm. It cannot waver. At the same time, we also have to resolve Hao's inner demons. If any one of us fails, the rest of us will die too. No doubt about it."

Everyone fell silent. It was only a while later that Ling Xiao suddenly asked, "I have a question. Can I walk away from this dangerous operation?"

"What do you think? You could, but we can despise you for a lifetime too!" Li Yuanchong countered.

Ling Xiao shrugged. "If you're going to despise me, despise me all you want. It's much better than losing my life. There's nothing more important than my life."

Yue Mingming stood up and ferociously threw the cloth he used to wipe off Zheng Hao's sweat onto the table. "Yuanchong, why are you wasting time talking to this dunce? Since you know how to set up the array, can't we just find someone else?"

"No." Li Yuanchong seemed to be stubborn about this. "Ling Xiao must participate! He can greatly reduce the danger of failure. The three of us just have to make sure we succeed and this task will naturally go off without a hitch!"

Yang Chao thought about it for a moment. "Why can't we ask the Elders for help?"

Li Yuanchong shook his head. "We can't. Only those he trust can enter Hao's soul. And their rank can't be higher than his either."

Ling Xiao rolled his eyes. What kind of lousy array is this?! Isn't this tantamount to saying the four of us here must be the ones to take part in this? A thought suddenly struck him as a mischievous smile formed on his lips. "Oh, Yuanchong, I can help you if you want to. But I have one condition. Can you promise me?"

Li Yuanchong looked at the lascivious smile on Ling Xiao's face and knew it couldn't be anything good. But since it had already come this far, asking him wouldn't do any harm. "What's your condition?"

"Can you give me the young lady from the Zhao Family?" An amorous glitter nearly surfaced in Ling Xiao's eyes.

Li Yuanchong silently cursed Ling Xiao.

Seeing as an even sourer aura was faintly surfacing on Li Yuanchong's already sour face, Ling Xiao settled for second best. "How about you let me kiss her? Or, or even let me touch her small hands? That's fine too."

Li Yuanchong lost his tongue.

After Elder Zheng offered him 10,000 yellow gems, Ling Xiao gave the nod. The operation to save Zheng Hao could finally get underway. Even though it was everything he'd saved up over the last 10 years, he was more than willing to throw in even his old life to save his sole successor, Zheng Hao. Greedy and corrupt, profiting from others' misfortune. This was Ling Xiao's true nature.

The perimeter was tightly secured. When Shen Nanfeng learned of the dangerous method Ling Xiao and the three others were going to employ to save Zheng Hao, he didn't stinge, instantly deploying 20 gray-masked Celestial Soul Masters to surround Zheng Hao's room. It was so secure that not even a mosquito could fly in.

Elder Zheng was deeply grateful. With drivel and tears, he repaid his immense debt to Shen Nanfeng.

With Zheng Hao as the center, Li Yuanchong used 800 yellow gems to form the array. The pattern went in the four cardinal directions. Each section was identical to the next. Li Yuanchong was seated to the north, Ling Xiao to the south, Yue Mingming to the west, and Yang Chao to the east. The four of them sat cross-legged with their eyes closed.

Li Yuanchong continuously made hand seals. Arrays shining with an orange glow flew out from between his hands. At the same time, a white light flashed between the eyebrows of the four of them. Two balls of light flew out, one from their glabella and the other from their crown. They flew to Zheng Hao's glabella with a whoosh.

The array beneath the four of them was still glowing, but the four of them showed no expression on their faces. They were as still as an ancient well. There wasn't a single trace of soulforce on them, other than a faint breath. In fact, if it wasn't for that, someone might assume they were dead.

"What is this place?" A blood-red moon illuminated the earth. Ling Xiao surveyed his surroundings. Finally, he recognised the wall far off into the distance. "Fuck! So, his soul never left this place." Ling Xiao wasn't shocked in the slightest. He was on the plains outside Seadragon City where Zheng Hao met with mishap.

In the quiet night sky, shouts of murder suddenly shook the sky. "Leave no man behind! I'll stake my all on it!" A look of grief and indignation coloured Zheng Hao's face as his fists danced like his life depended on it. With every punch, an Undead fell. Pcccchhhttt! Under his vicious punches, the Undead exploded and turned into piles of rotten flesh. A maniacal laughter escaped his lips, after which he said with all his might, "Come and bite me!"

Ling Xiao looked at this pitiful fellow with a pitiful gaze. He walked to Zheng Hao's side and softly said, "Boy, don't play around anymore. It's time to go home."

A perplexed gaze surfaced in Zheng Hao's eyes. "Home… Can I still go home? Undead bit me… I became an Undead too- Aoaoao!" Zheng Hao suddenly opened his blood filled mouth wide and pounced at Ling Xiao, baring his teeth and brandishing his claws. "I'm an Undead! I want to bite humans!"

Ling Xiao didn't move. There wasn't the smallest shred of emotion on his face.

"You're not afraid?" Zheng Hao asked in surprise.

Ling Xiao really wanted to roll his eyes, but he didn't know how to roll them in the current state he was in. He clearly knew everything before his eyes was fake. Even if it looked real, it was still fake, so what was there to be afraid of? "Even if you turned into an Undead, you're still a good friend of Li Yuanchong and the others. You won't have to fight them, and they won't kill you either," Ling Xiao indifferently said.

The expression in Zheng Hao's eyes gradually became bright and clear. He regained his tranquility too. "Really?"

Ling Xiao faintly smiled. "Really. Welcome back, lost child."

Chapter end