Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 107

Volume 6 Chapter 107: Fate and Choice (15)

Xu Qingfan was fully focused on merging the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" and resisting the control of the "Demon Pearl." He did not hear a single word of Zhang Xusheng’s previous mutterings.

However, later, the words that Zhang Xusheng whispered in Xu Qingfan’s ear somehow went deep into Xu Qingfan’s heart.

"By the way, Xu Qingfan, let me tell you something. The main forces of the Righteous Alliance have all arrived at my headquarters, but Zhang Hualing seems to be in seclusion to resist the invasion of evil energy. However, he is about to completely fall into the dark path…"

"At this moment, besides him, there are no other experts on ‘Ronghua Mountain’. Your three disciples should still be within ‘Ronghua Mountain’, right? And there are countless ordinary cultivators within the range of ‘Ronghua Mountain’. What will happen to them once Zhang Hualing completely enters the evil path?"

"Remember, judging by the Soul Bead, Zhang Hualing has less than a month before he fully turns to evil. If you cannot completely get rid of the ‘Demon Bead’ and reach ‘Ronghua Mountain’ within this month, then you can just wait for ‘Ronghua Mountain’ to be filled with corpses, hahaha…"

As these words were spoken, Xu Qingfan felt a jolt in his heart, and the situation inside him, which had barely been brought under control, became chaotic again.

At this moment, the situation inside Xu Qingfan had reached a very critical point.

The ‘Demon Bead’ and the ‘Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic’ began to merge with Xu Qingfan at the same time. The difference was that the merging of the ‘Demon Bead’ was passive for Xu Qingfan, while the merging of the ‘Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic’ was active on his part.

As the two treasures of good and evil merged more deeply with Xu Qingfan’s body, the battle between the energies contained in them became even more intense.

The ‘Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic’ goes without saying; it was transformed after Master Jiuhuan’s death, containing all of Master Jiuhuan’s cultivation and understanding of the Heavenly Way during his life. It later absorbed all the energy of the ‘Holy Spirit Stone’.

The ‘Nine Demon Bead’ was the first treasure of the evil path, and at the moment it was invading Xu Qingfan’s heart and mind, it was the most powerful one within the ‘Nine Demon Bead’, specially crafted for evil cultivators. It is said that the Demon Ancestor wanted to merge this bead with himself. Xu Lin, a mere mortal, was able to gain the upper hand against two Golden Core Stage experts without fully merging with the Demon Bead. Now, entering the body of Xu Qingfan, a late-stage Golden Core Stage cultivator, its power was even greater.

After experiencing the pain of the initial struggle between the two, Xu Qingfan forced himself to calm down. He joined forces with the ‘Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic’ to protect his mind from being controlled by the Demon Thought within the ‘Demon Bead’, while also suppressing the transformation and control of the demonic energy within his body.

After calming down, Xu Qingfan found that the situation was not as bad as he had thought. Although the magic orb was constantly reshaping his body, it was primarily focused on expelling the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" due to their natural conflict. His body was gradually showing many magical traits, but the magic orb had not yet managed to fully control Xu Qingfan.

Under the influence of the magic orb, the fusion with the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" was happening faster. While they fought, both forces were repeatedly reshaping Xu Qingfan’s body. As the changes continued, Xu Qingfan’s meridians became wider and stronger, but his body was turning into a mix of both good and evil, making it impossible to distinguish their attributes.

However, both of these powers were too immense. Although Xu Qingfan was strong in the late stage of the Golden Core Stage, he was insignificant compared to these two forces, unable to change the situation at all.

As time went on, the struggle between the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" and the magic orb inside Xu Qingfan reached a balance. Neither could overpower the other. Although Xu Qingfan suffered greatly in their struggle, his mind became increasingly clear as he watched the two opposing forces restrain and fight with each other. He felt a slight movement in his heart.

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Qingfan endured the pain in his body and carefully gathered the life and death energies inside him. Then, he boldly merged these two energies with the powers of the magic orb and the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic."

Originally, these two powers were vast and pure. Xu Qingfan’s "Formula of Life and Death" was profound, but merging and refining these energies was still far beyond his reach. At that moment, however, the two energies were restraining each other and could not deal with Xu Qingfan. Additionally, they were less concentrated and pure while fighting, allowing Xu Qingfan to refine some "demonic energy" with "Withered Qi" and some mixed holy power with "Flourish Qi."

As time passed, the power of the magic orb and the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" remained endless, showing no signs of exhaustion. The energy that Xu Qingfan refined using the "Formula of Life and Death" was not much compared to the two forces, but soon Xu Qingfan was pleasantly surprised to find that the Spirit Qi he could control had nearly doubled, reaching the peak of the Golden Core Stage, just a hair’s breadth away from the Nascent Soul Stage in the Mahayana Stage.

At the same time, with the fusion of the magic orb and the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" with his body, Xu Qingfan’s meridians became wider and stronger, and his dantian grew larger and thicker. Combined with the powerful life and death energies, Xu Qingfan’s cultivation began to rise at an astonishing speed.

Seeing this situation, Xu Qingfan was overjoyed. He quickly began to merge and refine the demonic energy with "Withered Qi" and the power of the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" with "Flourish Qi," just as he had done before. He believed that if this situation continued, there would surely come a time when he could influence the balance of the two great powers.

Slowly, Xu Qingfan felt himself beginning to become hazy, as if a part of his mind was uncontrollably splitting off and merging with the Golden Core inside him. During this moment of separation, there was no pain at all, as if it was always meant to be in two parts.

The separated part gradually merged with the Golden Core in his dantian, and endless Spirit Qi started to spread within, forming a tiny figure of Xu Qingfan, much smaller than before, in his dantian.

Xu Qingfan’s heart shook; this… this was clearly a sign that he was about to reach the Nascent Soul Stage!

Was it so calm and quiet? There was no earth-shattering momentum like when Taoist Crane and Bo Guangyan achieved enlightenment years ago. Could it be because he was merging the "Demon Pearl" and "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic"?

However, just as Xu Qingfan was about to feel joy, Zhang Xusheng’s voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

Xu Qingfan felt a shock in his heart, and he found himself faced with one of the hardest dilemmas of his life.

At the crossroads of fate, how should Xu Qingfan choose?