As the sun set, the twilight sky was bathed in crimson light.
Feng Qi took a deep breath of the long-lost air of the human world and slowly lowered the Demon Blade.
The moment it hit the ground, a thunderous crash echoed out, and the ground trembled with the impact.
Right now, the Demon Blade had entered its third-stage unsealing. Its weight was already over ten times heavier than in its second state.
This journey had truly been a step-by-step grind.
He looked to the side and saw Xiao You floating mid-air, fast asleep with her head drooping, a small glimmer of drool hanging from the corner of her mouth.
Over the years, Xiao You had perfected the art of slacking off.
To Feng Qi, every step taken under the crushing weight of the Demon Blade was a form of tempering.
To Xiao You, every step was an opportunity to laze around.
She had even developed a method to travel while asleep.
By setting her flight mask to fly straight ahead, she'd let her head slump mid-flight and doze off along the way.
If the path ahead required a turn or dodge, she wasn't worried—she knew her Boss wouldn't let her crash into a mountain or tree. He'd definitely pull her out of danger in time.
At most, she'd just shout "Boss!" and go right back to sleep.
Nearby, Po Jia—wearing his signature dagger mask—was carrying a massive boulder, training his physical endurance by walking under the crushing pressure.
Behind him trailed Lei Ting and the Negative Consciousness, staring each other down, locked in a silent war of expressions.
Though the Negative Consciousness was only palm-sized, its temper was anything but small—it was foul-mouthed and combative by nature.
It was either bickering with Lei Ting, or already halfway into another argument.
Feng Qi wasn't surprised.
After all, the Negative Consciousness was literally the embodiment of negative emotions—expecting it to be polite or agreeable would be absurd.
But around Feng Qi, it behaved with extreme humility.
The reason behind that humility was simple—it was terrified of dying.
So it didn't dare to overstep in his presence.
Recently, the Negative Consciousness had tried to help him devour his negative emotions.
Unfortunately, the results were disappointing.
No matter how much it tried to swallow, it always ended up spitting it all back out. It couldn't absorb even a sliver of his negative emotions.
The Negative Consciousness was clearly frustrated by this failure.
But Feng Qi was even more disappointed.
He knew the Negative Consciousness wanted to grow stronger by feeding on his negative emotions. And once it fully consumed them, betrayal could come at any moment.
Teaming up with it was like playing with fire.
But to him, if he could just eliminate the burden of his negative emotions, betrayal wouldn't matter.
The negative emotions could only kill him in the Sacrifice Line. They couldn't reach his self in the Main Timeline.
As a Sacrifice Line self, everything he did was meant to serve the Main Timeline.
If his death could mean purging all negative emotions once and for all—then it was a trade worth making.
For now, all he could do was hope the Negative Consciousness Group would continue perfecting the unfinished mental technique left by Zai Lin, and eventually figure out a way to purge or control the negative emotions.
At the same time, the Negative Consciousness wasn't weak by any means.
After two years of recuperation, its strength had significantly recovered.
Its ability was purely spiritual—an aggressive mental technique that could drag enemies into its negative mental domain and inflict devastating psychological attacks.
Even Lei Ting wasn't immune.
Right now, Lei Ting would blast its energy body with his thunder strikes, using his signature "Thunder Chicken Pecks."
In return, the Negative Consciousness would launch brutal mental counterattacks.
Their relationship on this journey had been nothing short of toxic—they verbally shredded each other daily, cursing out each other's ancestors at every turn.
Feng Qi couldn't be bothered to step in.
Both of them were pitiful beings in their own way, just looking for an outlet for their bottled-up emotions. As long as they didn't cause real trouble, he let them be.
After a short break, Feng Qi led the group forward once more, marching into the glowing afterglow of the sunset.
He did a quick calculation in his head.
It had been almost twenty years since he left Star City.
He had no idea where in the human world he was now, nor when he'd finally exit these domain-dense zones.
He had given himself one hundred fifty years to complete his Divine Ascension cultivation journey.
Once time was up, he would return to Star City—then head for Winterfell to challenge Jian Ji.
By then, Mu Yan would have returned and sought out Mu Qing to form the Dawn Army. The confrontation with Jian Ji would begin soon after.
If he didn't want Mu Qing to die, he had to be back by then.
His journey had only just begun.
The destination was still far off.
And right now, his strength was still far behind Jian Ji's.
They waded through a river thick with water plants and arrived before a brand-new domain field barrier.
Without hesitation, Feng Qi stepped through it first.
As the resistance faded, he looked up and saw a bright full moon casting its cold silver light over the land.
Bathed in the moonlight was a city built in ancient architectural style.
The streets beneath his feet were paved with blue flagstones, and he now stood in the middle of one such street.
This was the first time Feng Qi had encountered something like this.
Usually, when entering a domain field, he'd emerge on the outskirts.
But this time, he'd appeared directly inside a city built by intelligent beings.
He looked up at the sky. The full moon hanging overhead seemed enormous—its oppressive presence made it feel like it might crash down at any moment.
The city below his feet gave off an eerie vibe.
The streets were deathly silent, scattered with countless sheets of yellow paper. When the wind blew, they fluttered and danced through the air before drifting to the ground.
Feng Qi's heart tensed. He activated his blood energy perception.
And then, he was shocked.
He couldn't detect a single trace of life.
It was as if he had entered a ghost town.
Just then, Xiao You and the others crossed through the domain field barrier and arrived behind him.
"Stay alert."
Feng Qi turned and gave a reminder before hoisting the Demon Blade and walking forward along the main road.
The farther he went, the more unsettling this place felt.
Over the years, he'd seen plenty of ghost towns.
But those ghost towns usually had telltale signs—either abandoned during mass migration, or ruined after a tribe was wiped out. So they were often in disrepair, scattered with debris or signs of destruction.
But the streets here, aside from the scattered yellow paper charms, were unnaturally clean. Not even a speck of dust.
Everything about this place felt off.
Right then, he suddenly heard the soft ringing of wind chimes.
The sound seemed to come from a very distant place—faint and indistinct—but at the same time, it echoed directly in his mind. He couldn't pinpoint where it came from at all.
"There's something wrong here. I think I sensed the aura of a Miracle item."
"There's a Miracle here?"
"Not sure. But whatever's making that chime sound—if it's not a Miracle, it's definitely not ordinary."
"And how would you know? You can tell how powerful a chime is just by listening to it?"
"Don't forget, my race bloodline traces back to the Artifact Sect. Forging weapons is in our blood. We've got our own way of judging any weapon."
Hearing the Demon Blade's analysis, Feng Qi's heart started to stir.
All these years on the road, he'd only come across one Miracle item—the Blood Soul Flag, controlled by the Blood Soul Clan.
But with his strength, trying to snatch that was a guaranteed death sentence.
The moment he heard there might be a Miracle in this bizarre city, the urge to take it kicked in.
At the same time, he prepared himself mentally to run.
If there were creatures in the city guarding that Miracle, odds were high that he wouldn't be able to beat them.
He could only hope that the supposed Miracle here didn't have an owner, and that its effects were just like the presence of an artifact spirit—like the case with Sanwei.
He continued onward.
The amount of yellow paper scattered on the street grew noticeably thicker.
A chilling gust of wind swept through. Yellow papers swirled wildly through the air, flying across his vision.
Suddenly, a strange scene appeared at the edge of his sight—four short, hunched figures were carrying a blood-red coffin in his direction.
As the yellow paper danced past and momentarily blocked his view, the figures abruptly appeared directly in front of him.
These four short, hunchbacked beings emitted no signs of life at all. Feng Qi's blood energy perception returned nothing—it was like they didn't exist.
Without hesitation, Feng Qi raised the Demon Blade.
But before he could swing, the four figures blurred again and vanished from view.
"Behind you!"
The Demon Blade's warning rang through his mind.
Feng Qi whipped around to look—and froze.
Xiao You, Po Jia, and Lei Ting were gone.
In their place were the four hunched figures, turning back to face him with twisted, hideous grins.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The sound of pounding echoed from within the coffin.
Realizing they had trapped his companions inside, Feng Qi didn't hesitate. He swung the Demon Blade straight at the coffin.
But the four figures moved like ghosts, vanishing again before the blade could land.
"Up ahead!"
He spun back around and saw them flickering rapidly down the road, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Feng Qi was just about to give chase when the wind chime rang again in his ears.
A violent gust swept in, lifting all the yellow paper off the ground into a swirling frenzy, blotting out his sight.
And then he heard someone crying.
He turned toward the source of the sound—his pupils suddenly contracting.
In the distance, a blood-soaked Dawn Army flag was planted in the ground.
Hanging from the top of the flagpole was Mu Qing's pierced body, blood dripping steadily down the shaft.
"Mu Qing?!"
For a split second, he was stunned.
Then it hit him—this had to be an illusion.
Mu Qing was on the Winterfell frontlines. There was no way she'd appear here.
But his brain kept telling him what he was seeing was real.
As the wind chime echoed again, Feng Qi began to lose his grip on reality.
He clenched his jaw, trying to stay clear-headed—but it was like reality and illusion were merging. His brain insisted everything here was real.
In the distance, Mu Qing slowly reached out toward him, struggling.
"Ah Qi… help me…"
Something in his mind had been sealed away. His brain was fully deceived. Without thinking, Feng Qi took a step toward her.
"Qi brat, snap out of it! The place where Mu Qing's hanging is probably the core of some refinement array—just like the blood refining formation the Mist Lord used. If you walk into that, you're dead!"
The Demon Blade's warning rang out in his head, but it didn't affect Feng Qi at all.
Some mysterious force seemed to be rewriting his perception, making him truly believe everything in front of him was real.
As he was just about to reach Mu Qing, the Negative Consciousness suddenly appeared, blocking his path.
"Don't go! If you die, I die too!"
Feng Qi didn't even acknowledge it.
He kept walking.
At that moment, the Negative Consciousness clenched its teeth and dove into his forehead.
This time, it started a possession—but it did it differently.
Before reaching the Forbidden Negative Zone, it stopped and handed over full control to Feng Qi.
In that moment, Feng Qi snapped awake.
One of Feng Qi's consciousness threads had sunk into delusion due to altered perception, but the Negative Consciousness wasn't affected. Right now, he was awake in the state of that Negative Consciousness.
It was a strange feeling.
Almost like he had gained a second personality—one completely under his control.
He also noticed that while in the negative state, he gained a deeper understanding of negative energy.
But it was limited to the part controlled by the Negative Consciousness.
At that moment, the strange city around him began to change, as if it had noticed the anomaly.
The buildings caught fire one after another, and countless ghostly figures started to appear all around him.
Then, he heard Xiao You crying.
"Boss… don't die. Xiao You's coming to save you…"
He looked and saw that Xiao You, who had been snatched away in the illusion earlier, was now stumbling toward the refining array core with a blank stare.
Tears streamed down her dull eyes. She was walking straight toward death.
Clearly, her abduction earlier had also been part of the illusion.
It was now confirmed—Xiao You was also under cognitive tampering.
Turning his gaze to the other side, he saw Po Jia and Lei Ting heading toward another refining array core.
Both spots burned with ghostly green flames, like giant gaping maws waiting to devour their prey.
Feng Qi immediately tried to rush to their aid—only to find ghostly shadows swarming in, blocking his path.
Realizing that a fight was inevitable, he gripped the Demon Blade tightly.
That's when he discovered a serious problem—he couldn't activate the Demon Blade's power.
Due to the cognitive suppression affecting his main personality, the Demon Blade felt like a complete stranger to him—he couldn't connect to it at all.
Most of its power was sealed, and Feng Qi felt an immediate sense of danger.
Instinctively, he used his awakened consciousness to send signals to his suppressed main self, trying to use the Negative Consciousness to wake him up.
And it worked.
Bit by bit, his suppressed main self began to awaken.
Their perceptions started to merge.
Without delay, Feng Qi attempted to activate the Demon Blade's power again.
This time, it succeeded.
But a new problem followed right after.
As soon as the Demon Blade's power surged to life, a torrent of negative energy spilled out from his mental sea, spreading across the surface of his body.
It was the power wielded by the Negative Consciousness.
Now that both personalities were active, he had control over that power too.
The Demon Blade trembled violently, releasing waves of black energy that wrapped around his body.
The Demon Blade's energy intertwined with the Negative Consciousness energy, coating his form.
Because the two personalities now shared perception, their respective energies entered a strange symbiosis—no conflict at all.
With both personalities fully active, Feng Qi simultaneously wielded the Demon Blade's power and the Negative Consciousness's power.
The two energy types formed distinct zones, split perfectly down the middle of his body—left and right.
His left half was covered in the gray of negative energy. His right half was cloaked in the Demon Blade's pitch-black power.
The transformation wasn't over yet.
On the left side of his face, a twisted, half-formed gray mask emerged.
On the right side, a black blade-shaped helm from the Demon Blade's armored form formed over his cheek.
The gray negative energy mirrored everything the right side did—like a reflection, echoing the Demon Blade's transformation.
A long blade, forged from condensed gray mist, appeared in his left hand. It mirrored the Demon Blade in every detail.
The negative energy continued replicating the changes brought by the Demon Blade's energy, creating a mirrored amplification.
At this moment, his left half was a Negative Form, and his right half was a Demon Blade Form.
Feng Qi felt like he was splitting apart.
Especially with the Negative Consciousness now active—his mind was overflowing with endless negative emotions, along with a terrifying urge to destroy the world.
Only now did he truly understand what the Negative Consciousness was always thinking.
This thing was a born monster, filled with violent hatred since its creation, utterly devoid of empathy.
All around, more and more ghostly figures swarmed toward him.
But Feng Qi's transformation hadn't stopped.
With the gray mist blade in his left hand and the Demon Blade in his right, his body ignited with twin flames—one gray, one pitch-black.
Even his eyes changed under the influence of the two energies.
His left eye burned with gray flames.
His right eye burned with pitch-black fire.
The left side of his body was clad in bone-white armor. The right side in cold black metal.
The two energies reached a perfect equilibrium under the twin-personality state.
He slowly lifted his head, letting the seething hatred boil over.
A low, guttural roar escaped him, like a beast awakened—eyes wide, murderous intent pouring out.
With ghostly figures still closing in, Feng Qi raised both blades high.
The twin flames on his body surged up, wrapping around both weapons.
"Heh… hahaha!"
A crazed grin spread across the left side of his face, like a demon finally unchained, reveling in the moment to unleash everything.
Even the calm right side of his face began to twist, consumed by the rising tide of negative emotion.
In the fusion form of Evil and Demonic, Feng Qi had taken on his most terrifying state yet.
And in that moment, the sheer evil aura he gave off was enough to frighten all the ghostly figures around him—they didn't dare approach.