'To think a cultivator at Foundation Establishment Perfection actually came...'
Inside Gantang Channel, the initially brimming confidence of Perfected One Subduing-Spirit gradually faded into a faint smile. He had come to kill and establish his prestige, not to fight a life-and-death battle.
He could easily suppress the Master of Heaven-Mending Peak.
Even if a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator had come, he asked himself and was confident he had a ninety percent chance of winning. However, Foundation Establishment Perfection... this was very troublesome. His life might even be in danger!
At this thought, the intent to retreat instantly sprouted in Perfected One Subduing-Spirit's mind.
However, how could Chong Guang allow that?
The next second, right beside Perfected One Subduing-Spirit, Perfected One Xiaohai—who had long been taken over by the inner demon—abruptly looked up. A formless divine ability spread outwards along with his gaze.
[Five Poisons of the Heart].
This inner demon divine ability could hook into the most primal seven emotions and six desires within the human heart. Like plucking the strings of a zither, it instantly ignited Perfected One Subduing-Spirit's fury.
'Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon slaying the Pure Land Buddha Child was considered a textbook example of the weak overcoming the strong at the time. What about me? Since I want to establish my prestige and compare myself to Vanquishing-Demon, I naturally must do the same. Only by slaying a cultivator at Foundation Establishment Perfection while at the late stage of Foundation Establishment can I manifest the power of my divine ability. Why should I cower in fear?'
This thought abruptly leaped into Perfected One Subduing-Spirit's mind.
However, the very next second, a thunderous voice echoed through his sea of consciousness. "Careful! A master is using soul methods to influence your thoughts!"
"Hm? There's another expert?"
Almost simultaneously, Chong Guang sensed something amiss and raised an eyebrow. He completely hadn't expected the existence of a second divine sense within Perfected One Subduing-Spirit's sea of consciousness.
The other party could even detect the inner demon.
One must know, he had already deployed the [Formless Realm]. The inner demon had transformed into a formless state, making it incredibly difficult to capture. Before this, it had almost never been discovered by anyone.
Yet now, it was exposed.
'It's not that he has some method to detect inner demons, but rather the essence of this divine sense is too high. Is it stature? Could this be the remnant thought of a Perfected Lord!?'
Chong Guang immediately stood up, his brow tightly furrowed.
If it were merely the remnant thought of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, breaking through the [Five Poisons of the Heart] would be almost impossible. However, if it were the remnant thought of a Perfected Lord, forcefully breaking through it was entirely possible.
'Crap, a miscalculation.'
'If this person truly awakens Perfected One Subduing-Spirit, I will inevitably be exposed. The entire scheme at Gantang Channelwill fail on the verge of success, and it will probably be very difficult to achieve anything further.'
In a split second, Chong Guang's thoughts raced. 'Forcefully kill Subduing-Spirit? No. Once I reveal killing intent, I'll probably just die faster. In that case, kill that Perfected Lord's remnant thought? That won't work either. Its stature is too high. Even if I could kill it, it would take a massive amount of time to slowly grind it away.'
'Is this scheme really going to fail on the verge of success?'
At this thought, Chong Guang's expression gradually grew gloomy.
However, he quickly realized that although Long Tu was constantly using his divine sense to shake the soul and emitting thunderous sounds to awaken Perfected One Subduing-Spirit, that was all he was doing.
'Hm?'
Chong Guang was momentarily stunned, and then the gloominess was instantly swept away. "He actually doesn't even possess Golden Nature! This person is from outer heavens; he's not a native Perfected Lord of the Immortal Nexus?"
Although Lu Yang hadn't yet spread the lightning arts, that didn't mean the cultivators of the Immortal Nexus were completely helpless against inner demons.
At least according to Chong Guang's experience, Golden Nature could suppress inner demons to a certain extent.
Especially the Golden Nature of a Perfected Lord; its suppressive power against inner demons was downright terrifying. Unless the inner demon had grown too large to handle, it was basically impossible for it to affect Golden Nature.
That was why Chong Guang initially thought his scheme was going to fail. After all, which native Perfected Lord of the Immortal Nexus didn't carry Golden Nature with them? Expelling his inner demon divine ability would have been incredibly easy. Yet, he never expected that Long Tu wasn't a Perfected Lord of the Immortal Nexus, but rather a rogue cultivator from outer heavens, just like the Unorthodox cultivators!
'Truly, every cloud has a silver lining!'
At this thought, Chong Guang's spirits lifted instantly. Without the enhancement of Golden Nature, the impact of Long Tu's divine sense shockwaves on his inner demon was pitifully small.
'Let alone waking up Perfected One Subduing-Spirit—
'Even this divine sense he's using to shake the sea of consciousness can be eaten clean by my inner demon... But I can't go too far, otherwise he'll give up.'
Chong Guang rapidly adjusted his strategy.
Following that, he intentionally retracted the inner demon slightly, allowing Perfected One Subduing-Spirit to regain a sliver of clarity. Then, he immediately devoured a portion of Long Tu's divine sense.
"Hm?"
Long Tu naturally noticed this as well. However, as the gatekeeper of the [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness] and an absolute ancient relic, how could he possibly recognize an inner demon?
For a moment, he actually thought his method had worked and was overjoyed. Although he had lost some divine sense, managing to awaken Perfected One Subduing-Spirit made it a worthwhile trade... But before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, Chong Guang strengthened the inner demon's influence again, once more clouding Perfected One Subduing-Spirit's soul.
Seeing this, Long Tu was stunned. "Again?"
After a moment of silence, he transmitted another strand of divine sense to shake the sea of consciousness. As the divine sense shattered and vanished, Perfected One Subduing-Spirit regained clarity once more.
"Bastard!"
The next second, within Perfected One Subduing-Spirit's sea of consciousness, the light and shadow of the inner demon coalesced. Chong Guang's figure surfaced, his face obscured by dark light, and he spoke in a vicious tone:
"Must Senior oppose me?"
Although he couldn't see the face clearly, Long Tu could still hear a hint of bravado masking inner weakness in the other party's voice. He immediately dismissed it and continued to transmit his divine sense.
"Good, good, good! Since that's the case, I'll fight you to the death!"
Chong Guang was trembling all over with anger. He let out a loud roar, and before the newly lucid Perfected One Subduing-Spirit could even speak, he was once again influenced by the inner demon.
Seeing this, Long Tu's brow furrowed tightly. He had already consumed three strands of divine sense, yet each time, he could only awaken Perfected One Subduing-Spirit for less than a split second. He couldn't even discern what kind of method this was. It felt somewhat like an illusion that could manipulate human emotions, but its essence seemed slightly different.
'However, my divine sense is effective; it's just that the quantity isn't enough.'
At this thought, Long Tu gritted his teeth. Instead of transmitting a single strand, he directly split off a quarter of his divine sense and sent it crashing violently into Chong Guang!
"Ahhhhh!"
Chong Guang's body shook violently. The light and shadow formed by the inner demon nearly collapsed. He roared indignantly, only barely managing to steady himself.
Seeing this, Long Tu was stunned again.
That didn't kill him?
Intuition told him something wasn't quite right.
But looking at Chong Guang, who was already tottering and looked as if a gentle push would topple him, he felt as if he was just one step away from finishing the opponent off.
Rumble!
Just in case, Long Tu split off another three strands of divine sense to attack Chong Guang. Because of this, Perfected One Subduing-Spirit constantly bounced back and forth between states of lucidity and haze.
"Bastard! You bastard!"
"I was clearly about to succeed! As long as I devour him, my method will reach major accomplishment! Yet now, my efforts have fallen short on the verge of success! The heavens truly wish to destroy me!"
"I am not resigned to this!"
Amidst Chong Guang's furious, despairing roars, Long Tu continued to bombard him with divine sense.
The effect was quite obvious. He noticed that compared to before, the duration of Perfected One Subduing-Spirit's lucidity had significantly increased, and was getting longer and longer.
Just a little bit more!
Long Tu gritted his teeth and fired off another strand of divine sense.
Despite the growing feeling that something was wrong, the sunk costs he had already paid were right there in front of him. What if this was the straw that broke the camel's back?
Especially when he saw that during his moment of hesitation, Chong Guang's extremely weakened aura suddenly spiked slightly, as if he possessed some recovery method. Long Tu could no longer sit still. 'No, I finally managed to heavily injure him. I absolutely cannot give him a chance to recover!'
And so, very quickly, another quarter of his divine sense was consumed.
Long Tu: "..."
Wait, this isn't right.
When I used a quarter of my divine sense earlier, he was screaming in agony. Now that I've used another quarter, he's just screaming...
"You bastard!!!"
Long Tu finally realized what was happening. If he weren't merely a remnant thought without a physical body right now, he would probably be so angry that smoke would be blowing out of his seven orifices.
Seeing that he could no longer keep up the act, Chong Guang instantly dropped his exaggerated posture and smiled in satisfaction:
"Thank you for your generous gift, Senior."
"In return, I shall send Senior on your way!"
He had certainly put in a lot of painstaking effort to deal with Long Tu. After all, ever since becoming the Acting Sect Master of the Saint Sect, it had been a long time since he played this kind of game.
He was a bit too dramatic just now.
If it were when he was younger, his acting skills probably would have been a bit more refined. If that scene just now were to leak out, it would likely damage his normally steady image.
'Forget it, no one knows anyway!'