A living being that directly threatens his life?
And even after removing it, he still wants to survive?
When Yang Yun said the first half of that request, Yun Jin still couldn't be sure what he meant. But the moment he added the second part, her expression turned subtly strange. As expected, the one Yang Yun truly wanted to deal with... was the Demon Soul inside his own mind.
In her past life, he'd probably made the same kind of request.
But the Demon Soul shared his life and death. Removing it alone wasn't too hard, but keeping Yang Yun alive afterward? That was the impossible part.
Back then, to completely rid himself of the Demon Soul, Yang Yun had first absorbed the entire Demon Race, then painfully carved the demonic bloodline out of his own body, turning himself from half-demon back into a pure human.
It had been an excruciating process.
And now, in this life, the connection between him and the Demon Soul was even tighter than before. The Demon Soul had even taken the dominant role.
This time, cutting himself free would only be harder.
The moment Yang Yun finished speaking, the Demon Soul reacted. Its voice turned sharp and piercing. "Yang Yun! You're using the cultivation method I taught you to deal with me?"
Dark runes crawled all over his body like living chains, completely wrapping him up. On the surface, there was no visible wound, but Yang Yun's body trembled uncontrollably. Pain racked him so intensely that sweat instantly soaked through his clothes.
"Say it! Change your request! The one you should kill is Yun Jin!" the Demon Soul screamed.
The Netherfire Phoenix, however, didn't rush to act. It merely watched Yang Yun's agony with an oddly amused expression.
Yang Yun clenched his teeth and forced out, "Senior Phoenix, I only have one request! Please, remove the Demon Soul and grant me freedom!"
"Yang Yun!!!" The Demon Soul went wild with rage, thrashing violently inside him.
Sweat dripped from Yang Yun's forehead, but he never wavered.
After a long silence, the Netherfire Phoenix finally spoke. "Your request is too difficult."
Yang Yun stared at it in disbelief. "Senior Phoenix?"
The Netherfire Phoenix's tone was indifferent. "I can destroy this Demon Soul, but if it dies, so will you. I can't kill the Demon Soul without killing you along with it."
As it spoke, the Demon Soul burst out from the top of Yang Yun's head, laughing coldly. "Senior, this brat doesn't know what he's saying. Our request isn't that. What we want is for you to eliminate that human woman named Yun Jin!"
It pointed straight at Yun Jin.
The Netherfire Phoenix followed its gaze.
Yun Jin raised a brow, her smile faint and unreadable.
"Senior Phoenix, that's not what I meant!" Yang Yun's voice grew anxious. This could be his last chance to rid himself of the Demon Soul.
But before he could finish, the Netherfire Phoenix's expression turned impatient. "My energy is limited. I don't wish to waste it here."
Then its tone sharpened. "Mortal, I accept your request. I'll remove the mortal named Yun Jin."
It transformed into a surge of black flame and shot straight toward Yun Jin.
Yang Yun froze.
What the hell?!
That wasn't what he said at all!
Sure, he hated Yun Jin too, but he knew what truly mattered. The Demon Soul was the real threat.
But the Phoenix didn't intend to listen.
Yun Jin waved a hand, instantly teleporting everyone else a hundred miles away. Then she looked at the Netherfire Phoenix with calm interest.
One thing was certain.
This Phoenix wasn't the auspicious divine bird of legend. The evil aura rolling off it was suffocating. Expecting such a creature to obey orders was a childish fantasy.
In her past life, she'd never figured out how Yang Yun had managed to get it to cooperate. But in this life, it clearly didn't care to play along.
Choosing to attack her was probably just its way of saving effort. Killing her was far easier than fulfilling Yang Yun's request.
And indeed, that was what the Netherfire Phoenix thought. Its power was bound by the Heavenly Dao, barely able to exist in this small world.
To separate Yang Yun from the Demon Soul completely, it would need to expend a ridiculous amount of spiritual energy to rebuild his body and soul.
But killing Yun Jin? That would take hardly any effort. It calculated quickly, then spat out a black flame straight at her.
That should be enough to kill the woman, right?
Yun Jin looked at the incoming flame and calmly raised her hand. With a light gesture, she compressed the black fire into a tiny strand as thin as her thumb and let it dance in her palm.
"So this is your Netherfire?" Her lips curved in a playful smile.
The Netherfire Phoenix froze midair.
Yang Yun quickly shouted, "Senior Phoenix, she's mastered the Primordial Flame! She's not someone you can handle so easily! Compared to her, that Demon Soul's just a single wisp of spirit, much easier to destroy!"
Before he even finished, the Demon Soul, humiliated and furious, unleashed another wave of pain through his body.
"Primordial Flame?" The Netherfire Phoenix narrowed its eyes, then chuckled darkly. "I may be a Phoenix of Fire by name, but I was born in the Netherworld. My true element is Nether Water."
A pitch-black river suddenly appeared out of thin air, surging toward Yun Jin.
She raised her brow slightly and stretched out her hand again.
The river compressed instantly into a small, jagged stream and hovered beside the black flame in her palm.
Yun Jin smiled with a hint of amusement. "Go on, I'm watching."
The Netherfire Phoenix's expression twisted. "You... you've mastered the Primordial Water too?!"
It wasn't the real body of the Phoenix, only an avatar. It couldn't truly command the Primordial Forces, and before someone who could, it had already lost control.
The Netherfire Phoenix took a deep breath. "Wait! I still have one last move!"
It spread its black wings wide, dark flames swirling around it. Then it opened its beak, gathering a sphere of black light in its mouth.
Yun Jin tilted her head, watching with interest.
All the spiritual energy in the surroundings surged toward her. Yin and Yang forces gathered in terrifying waves.
The Netherfire Phoenix's eyes widened.
A flicker of panic crossed its gaze.
That aura...
Why did it feel stronger than his own?!
He, the mighty Netherfire Phoenix! A supreme demonic beast from the highest realms of the Demon World! And yet the moment his avatar descended here, he'd run into someone like this?!
The Phoenix's mind raced. Could he even win this fight?
Yun Jin's power was still building, growing denser by the second.
The Phoenix's feathers trembled.
Then, suddenly, it swallowed the black light back down and shouted, "Forget it! I'm done fighting! Yang Yun, right? Let's take another look at your first request!"
Yang Yun: "???"
Yun Jin: "???"
The Demon Soul: "!!!"