Inside the demon god barrier, in pitch-black darkness where one couldn't even see their own hand, Lin Zheyu stood still. Demonic qi energy surged around him, then under his control poured into his body in a massive surge. Demonic qi energy was a special form of energy, vastly different from spiritual qi. The aptitude required to absorb it efficiently was also very different from that needed for cultivation.

Lin Zheyu discovered that the deeper his body's demonization, the faster he absorbed demonic qi. The golden runes on his body had all turned purple-black. His muscles swelled and bulged, and his fair skin, corroded by demonic qi, darkened into a purple-black hue. Hard, scale-like armor plates slowly formed across his skin, covering his entire body.

Cracking sounds rang out without pause. Lin Zheyu's body suddenly grew taller, and he felt himself beginning to transform into a yao. His head started to change into something no longer human.

"So strong! I won't end up unable to change back, will I?" exclaimed Lin Zheyu.

Lin Zheyu lightly clenched his fist and felt immense energy surging through his flesh. As demonic qi invaded his body, his true origin began to shift in nature under its corrosion, transforming toward demon essence.

Suddenly, Lin Zheyu felt an inexplicable surge of intense killing intent and violent emotion from deep within. Unable to resist, he opened his grotesque mouth and let out a thunderous roar. The sound was utterly unfamiliar, not human at all. Even his head had fully demonized, with dozens of thread-like tendrils growing from his face, waving in the air.

"Kill, kill, kill!"

Lin Zheyu's eyes turned blood-red, his consciousness nearly consumed by overwhelming killing intent. He found his senses had changed in a strange way. Within this demon god barrier filled with demonic qi, he felt completely at ease, like a fish in water.

"Hiss. This demonization has exceeded my limit!"

Lin Zheyu forcibly suppressed the killing intent and violent emotions within him. He realized that as his demonization deepened, demonic qi energy had begun to invade his sea of consciousness. Without hesitation, he made a decision.

Use 1 unit of Origin Force to cultivate the Sacred Evolution Spirit Nurturing Art.

In an instant, a vast surge of mysterious energy burst forth, sweeping together the Golden Core energy in Lin Zheyu's hand and entering his body. While madly absorbing demonic qi and demonizing his body, he had already prepared for this. If anything went wrong, he would immediately use Origin Force to restore himself. Under the effect of Origin Force, his yao-transformed physique rapidly recovered at an astonishing speed. Crackling sounds echoed as his nearly five-meter-tall body, enlarged by demonization, rapidly shrank back down as if deflating.

After a few breaths, Lin Zheyu slowly opened his eyes, a trace of lingering fear flashing within them. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

I need to maintain a balance. Once this demonization exceeds 70%, the impact on my spirit grows stronger and stronger. If I'm not careful, I might not even notice it myself.

Just now, after pushing his body to 70% demonization, strange changes had occurred. The speed of demonization had surged dramatically. The purple-black runes formed by demonic qi corrosion had also undergone a bizarre transformation. As if alive, they began to grow and refine themselves, discarding other parts and combining with different runes to form intricate and profound new symbols, demonic patterns.

"These mysterious runes really do have a problem," Lin Zheyu murmured softly as he sensed the golden runes within his body.

These golden runes were all condensed through cultivating demon arts. The purpose of demonic arts was to push the cultivators toward evolution and transformation into a yao. As such, these runes had an astonishing affinity with demonic qi energy. This was also why, when Lin Zheyu fully embraced demonization, the speed of his transformation became so terrifying.

If the golden energy within his body could not be maintained, then by remaining in a dense demonic qi environment for too long, the golden runes inside him would rapidly deteriorate. Under the corrosion of demonic qi, they would shatter, reorganize, and condense into demonic patterns.

"The corrosion in my sea of consciousness hasn't been restored," Lin Zheyu said, frowning slightly.

The restorative effect of Origin Force mainly acted on the physical body and could not restore spiritual energy. The foul energy that had invaded his sea of consciousness had not been cleansed by this cultivation. At this moment, a strange and sinister energy spread through his sea of consciousness, slowly eroding his spiritual form.

Demonic qi energy had a powerful suppressive effect on the spirit. Without the aid of a Divine Power Crystal, spiritual sense could not be released at all. Even the slightest trace of demonic qi entering the sea of consciousness could lead to terrifying consequences. This was also one of the reasons why the path of demon arts could never truly succeed.

Lin Zheyu let out a long breath. Vast amounts of golden energy surged from his flesh and, under his control, moved toward his sea of consciousness. The sea of consciousness was one of the most special parts of the human body. Aside from spirit and soul energy, neither true origin nor blood qi could enter it. This was his first attempt at guiding golden energy into the sea of consciousness. Golden energy had a strong restraining effect on demonic qi. If it could not even enter the sea of consciousness, things would become troublesome.

Time passed slowly. Lin Zheyu forcibly suppressed the surging urges of slaughter and wickedness within him as he guided the golden energy into his sea of consciousness. Golden energy was extremely unique, vastly different from true origin and spirit power. While true origin, spirit power, and blood qi could not enter the sea of consciousness, Lin Zheyu saw a glimmer of hope in this golden energy.

Again and again he tried, but he repeatedly failed. His spirit, already made violent and twisted by demonic qi, grew more irritable. Lin Zheyu noticed that the forty-two martial cultivation true intents floating in his sea of consciousness were gradually changing in color. Black impurities within them were steadily increasing.

"This is troublesome..." Lin Zheyu murmured, his brows tightly knit.

The human body itself was a powerful defensive barrier protecting the sea of consciousness. To pierce this barrier, break through its defenses, and attack an opponent's soul was extremely difficult. Only those with powerful soul secret arts or vastly superior soul strength could achieve it. Even then, the danger involved was immense.

Once a soul attack pierced the physical barrier and entered the sea of consciousness, its power would be greatly reduced. Even if it affected the opponent, the impact would be minimal. Without a powerful soul attack technique, such attacks were self-destructive, harming oneself more than the enemy. Most were only used in life-or-death situations, burning one's life to unleash a final strike and perish together with the opponent.

Lin Zheyu had encountered such a situation once before. Fortunately, his martial true intents were powerful enough. With all forty-two acting together, they blocked the opponent's soul attack. Now that he was attempting it himself, he realized just how difficult it was to break through the defenses of the sea of consciousness, especially when using non-soul energy.

Forcing golden energy to break through the barrier of the sea of consciousness was extremely difficult. Doing so by brute force would cause severe damage. Fortunately, the demonic qi energy within his sea of consciousness was gradually losing its corrosive effect, as if it were running out.

After all, the moment he noticed something was wrong, Lin Zheyu had decisively used Origin Force to recover and exit his demonized state. The amount of demonic qi that had invaded his sea of consciousness was not large. Even so, its impact was not to be underestimated. Demonic qi energy was like a natural enemy of the spirit and soul. Even the faintest trace was difficult to expel using spirit and soul power alone.

***

The wind howled, black gusts raging. Lin Zheyu hid among the desolate rubble, trying again and again. The violence and killing intent in his eyes grew stronger, yet he restrained it with sheer force of will. His spiritual will was extraordinarily powerful. Through countless breakthroughs beyond his limits to obtain Origin Force and repeated enhancements using it, his will had long reached a terrifying level.

"It worked!"

Suddenly, joy spread across Lin Zheyu's face. Within the boundless black sea of consciousness, a faint golden light appeared. It grew brighter and brighter, like a blazing sun rising from the horizon, radiating endless light and dispelling the darkness. The black impurities within his true intents and spiritual form, caused by demonic qi corruption, slowly faded under the purification of the golden energy. The endless violent killing urges deep within him began to vanish.