"Kill! Kill! Everyone in the world is mine to kill!"
"Kill! Kill! Everyone in the world has wronged me!"
Xue Yi, clad in blood-red, now brandished a longsword. The sword glowed with a faint, crimson light and was wreathed in wisps of black Demonic Qi. It was clearly no ordinary weapon.
But this bloody light, this Demonic Qi…
…did not originate from the sword itself.
It was from Xue Yi—the result of the slaughter she had committed with this sword after falling into demonhood.
"Kill! Kill!"
Moreover, after slaughtering everyone from the Pure Yang Sword Sect, Xue Yi was still filled with killing intent.
She wanted to destroy every living creature she saw.
Including Yang Xiao.
"Another one. Die!"
With a sharp cry, Xue Yi lunged at Yang Xiao.
She raised her sword, and a bloody light flashed as she slashed down at him.
From the look of her, she didn't recognize him at all.
Only endless killing intent flickered in her eyes.
This was what it meant to have fallen into demonhood.
Deeply fallen.
She had become an emotionless tool that knew only slaughter.
'So fast,' Yang Xiao thought, slightly startled. 'She's much faster than before. She's not much weaker than when she merged with the Bloodthirsty Celestial Cyan!'
However, he was no longer the same person he was before, either.
He had comprehended the Time Secret Pattern to the Ninth Layer, reaching Great Success. Although he hadn't yet condensed the Heart of Time, Yang Xiao could already easily wield the Power of Time.
With a single thought, Xue Yi's movements—so fast an ordinary person couldn't even see them—slowed down countless times in his eyes, becoming perfectly clear.
Immediately after, Yang Xiao's figure flashed.
He appeared behind Xue Yi.
With a chop of his hand, he struck the back of her neck, knocking her unconscious with a single heavy blow.
The whole process was remarkably easy.
If Nangong Tianling had witnessed this scene, her jaw would have probably dropped in shock.
After all, Xue Yi's current state was equivalent to an expert at the Fourth or Fifth Layer of the Small Divine Technique. And Yang Xiao? He was someone who hadn't even reached the Peak of the Fifth Tier of Mortals, the Heavenly Gang Realm.
Compared to an expert at the Fourth to Fifth Layer of the Small Divine Technique, the gap between them was despairingly vast.
This was no longer about fighting above one's rank; this was completely ignoring realm limitations.
And this was the terror of the Time Secret Pattern.
As long as his opponent's Spirit Will wasn't strong enough to overwhelm his, the Time Secret Pattern would always be effective.
Xue Yi's clearly wasn't.
'Now what?'
But looking at the unconscious Xue Yi on the ground, Yang Xiao felt a headache coming on again.
Kill her?
'Of course not. If I really wanted to kill her, I wouldn't have just knocked her out. I would have dealt a fatal blow.'
'But what should I do now?'
Xue Yi had deeply fallen into demonhood.
This was unlike Nangong Tianling's situation.
Nangong Tianling had merely had an unstable state of mind, giving rise to a Demon Thought, which was just a sign of falling into demonhood.
At that time, it could only be considered an obsession.
She still had her self-awareness.
It wasn't a true Demon Thought.
Therefore, Yang Xiao had a way to reawaken her self-awareness and clear the obsession.
'But Xue Yi…'
'If I'm not mistaken, her self-awareness has long been sealed away, leaving only the instinct for slaughter born from the Demon Thought—an instinct to kill everything under the heavens.'
Just like her father, the Evil Sword, all those years ago.
'Right, the Evil Sword… The Evil Sword seems to have been suppressed and killed by the Pure Yang Ancestor. Is that why Xue Yi came for revenge? But even if it was for revenge, her obsession should have been eliminated. The Pure Yang Ancestor is dead. She should have gotten her revenge. So why would she fall into demonhood?'
Yang Xiao couldn't understand.
'A person doesn't fall into demonhood for no reason.'
'If Xue Yi's obsession was to kill the Pure Yang Ancestor…'
'…then she has now succeeded.'
'After getting her revenge, the obsession should have been cleared.'
'So why did she fall into demonhood instead?'
He couldn't figure it out no matter how he thought about it.
It was illogical.
'Unless…'
'…the Pure Yang Ancestor's death wasn't what Xue Yi wanted. Or perhaps, there was a deeper connection between the Pure Yang Ancestor and Xue Yi. So, when he died, instead of feeling satisfaction, she was filled with immense regret, causing her to seal herself off and fall into the Demon Dao.'
Yang Xiao vaguely felt he was onto something.
Actually, when Xue Yi had come to see him this time, he had been against her leaving her seclusion.
Because a Demon like the Bloodthirsty Celestial Cyan had taken root in her body for three hundred years. Even though he had removed it, there would still be residual effects.
If she ever encountered a major blow, or something she couldn't accept, it was possible that the Demon Thoughts, which were ingrained to her very bones, would be triggered, causing her to step onto the Demon Dao.
It could be said that compared to an ordinary person, Xue Yi's chances of falling into demonhood were thousands, even tens of thousands of times greater.
That was why as soon as he saw trouble here, he had thought of Xue Yi and had rushed over so desperately.
After all, Yang Xiao held this woman in high regard.
But the problem had already occurred. Thinking about these things now was pointless.
Thinking about how to save her was what mattered.
'Deeply fallen into demonhood… Throughout the long ages, from the Ancient Era to even older Ancient Times, there has only been one recorded case of someone being cured: the story of Bai Lianzi sacrificing herself to save her husband.'
'Back then, Bai Lianzi's Dao partner, the Thousand Heart Daoist, attempted to spy on the Heavenly Dao. He used his self-created Thousand Heart Secret Technique to deduce the workings of the Heavenly Dao, but was ultimately struck by a backlash from the Heaven and Earth Great Dao. He was trapped by a Demon Thought and fell into demonhood.'
'Bai Lianzi then offered her own body to the demon, fusing her Divine Intent with the Thousand Heart Daoist's. After enduring countless hardships, she finally managed to pull her Dao partner out from the Demon Thought…'
'If I want to save her, there's only one way.'
Divine Intent Fusion.
A wry smile appeared on Yang Xiao's face.
'Was I cursed with some kind of romantic misfortune in this life? Otherwise, why does every woman force me to face this kind of choice?'
'It was like this with Yue Lingxi.'
'It was just like this with Yun'Er, too.'
'And now, even with Xue Yi, the only chance to save her from the swamp of her Demon Thought is to do something with her that only Dao partners should do.'
Yang Xiao truly didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
But no matter what, he couldn't just stand by and watch her die.
Back then, he and Yue Lingxi were complete strangers, yet he had helped her simply out of a sense of duty.
Now, Xue Yi had already submitted to him.
If he didn't save her, his conscience wouldn't be clear.
'Forget it. It's just Divine Intent Fusion, right? I am the great Overlord Heaven Flame Emperor, the Flame Emperor's son! Back then, for the sake of cultivation and breaking the seals in my body, it's not like I haven't indiscriminately dual-cultivated with others before! What the hell is there to be afraid of!'
Steeling his heart, Yang Xiao stepped forward and swept Xue Yi up in his arms.
With a thought, he sent his True Greater Yang Fire pouring into Xue Yi's body.
The moment it entered, it immediately provoked the Demonic Qi inside Xue Yi to fight back.
However, faced with the True Greater Yang Fire—a substance of Supreme Yang and Firmness—the Demonic Qi Xue Yi had produced quickly dissolved and was annihilated.
With the Demonic Qi no longer an obstacle, Yang Xiao began to entwine his energy with the Origin Sword Qi inside Xue Yi's body.
The sensation of their auras merging appeared once again.
This time, it seemed he would have to go even deeper than he did with Yue Lingxi.
'But thankfully, Xue Yi has already fallen into demonhood and is unconscious. Otherwise, I really wouldn't dare do this. After all, compared to a subordinate who has a chance to cultivate a Supreme Sword Body in the future, my own secrets are far more important.'
So, in this situation, Yang Xiao would absolutely save her if he could, but if he couldn't, then there was nothing to be done.
Everything…
…would depend on this woman's own destiny.