One person: Starting with the Snow Drinking Blade

Nie Lingfeng swayed slightly.

He lowered his head, looking at Wang Bing's terrified face at his feet, at Wang Xiao's resentful eyes, and at the twisted expressions of the other Wang family members...

He could almost hear countless voices ringing in his ears:

"Why should I...?"

"I was just following orders..."

"I still have my elderly mother at home..."

"My child is only three years old..."

"I don't want to die..."

"..."

The sounds overlapped, surging in like a tide, impacting his consciousness and his "true self."

"So," the inner demon spread his hands in a helpless gesture, but his face was full of mockery, "stop pretending. Admit it, you are a demon. A demon who wears human skin, thinks he is righteous, but is actually no different from those you despise... a demon."

He took a step forward and stood in front of Nie Lingfeng, the distance between them less than three feet.

He could smell the strong stench of blood on Nie Lingfeng, and Nie Lingfeng could also smell the deeper, purer... aura of destruction emanating from him.

"Since you're all demons, why suppress yourself?" The inner demon's voice softened, becoming alluring, like a devil's whisper. "Release your restraints, fully embracing the demonic path, unleash the beast within you, slaughter everyone who stands in your way, and do what you want to do. Isn't that better?"

He stretched out his hand; his palm was fair, and his fingers were long and slender, exactly like Nie Lingfeng's.

"Come, take my hand." The inner demon smiled, a gentle smile, like an invitation from the closest friend. "Let's work together to cleanse this filthy, hypocritical, disgusting world... Let's kill all those who are in our way, destroy all that is unpleasant, and create a pure, clean... new world that belongs only to us."

Nie Lingfeng looked at that hand.

The hand was clean, without blood or dirt, like it was carved from jade, and gleamed with a warm luster under the dark red sunlight.

For a fleeting moment, he really wanted to hold it.

Yes, why make things so tiring?

Why suppress the violence in your heart? Why care about other people's opinions? Why bother with good and evil, right and wrong?

Kill if you want, exterminate if you want, those who obey me prosper, those who defy me perish, enjoy your revenge, do whatever you please... isn't that good?

Anyway... they're all demons.

Anyway... this world has never been fair.

Anyway... Nie Lingfeng has never been a good person.

He slowly raised his hand and reached out towards the hand of his inner demon...

but……

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the demon's palm, he suddenly stopped.

He raised his head and looked behind his inner demon.

At the edge of the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood, beneath that dark red sky, stood a figure.

It was tiny and fragile, like a pale green flower that could be submerged at any moment amidst the boundless mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

It's Chen Duo.

She was wearing that light green dress—the one he bought for her while shopping; she said, "Green is pretty, like leaves." Her hair was neatly combed and tied into a simple ponytail at the back of her head, adorned with a hair clip with a bow—which she had also picked out herself, saying, "Butterflies can fly, it's pretty." She was holding a half-person-sized panda plush toy in her arms—the toy was a bit old, one ear was drooping, and the fur was a little matted, but she held it tightly, as if it were a precious treasure.

She stood there, quietly watching him.

Her emerald eyes were like two deep pools, clear and calm, without fear, disgust, despair, or even... surprise.

Only...trust.

Pure, unreserved trust, like a child trusting their parents...

Nie Lingfeng seemed to hear her voice, very soft and faint, as if it came from a very far place, yet it rang clearly in his ears:

You will come back.

"You won't go back on your word."

"With you here, I have nothing to fear."

"..."

Nie Lingfeng's outstretched hand froze in mid-air.

He looked at the inner demon, at its blood-red eyes, filled with temptation and malice.

Then, slowly, very slowly... he withdrew his hand.

"..."

The smile on the inner demon's face froze.

"You're right," Nie Lingfeng said, his voice soft and hoarse, but clear. "I kill people, I wipe out entire families, my hands are stained with blood. Wang Bing, Wang Xiao, Ghost Hand, Blood Blade, Shadow One, and those Wang family members... their deaths are all related to me. I'm not a saint, not a knight-errant, not some righteous hero. I act according to my conscience, according to my likes and dislikes, and sometimes... I really don't care about right or wrong, good or evil."

He paused, then spoke slowly and deliberately, as if carving words into stone:

"But you're wrong about one thing."

The inner demon narrowed its eyes: "Oh?"

"I am not a demon." Nie Lingfeng raised his head, looking directly into the blood-red eyes of the inner demon, his gaze possessing an unprecedented, almost cold clarity. "At least not now."

"Ha," the inner demon scoffed, "self-deception."

"No," Nie Lingfeng shook his head, "I mean... you are the demon."

He raised his hand, pointing to his inner demons, and also to... his own heart:

"You are my demon. You are the violence in my heart, my murderous intent, my madness, my...dark side. But...you are also only a part of me."

The inner demon's smile gradually disappeared.

"I do not deny your existence, I do not evade your temptations, I do not extinguish your desires," Nie Lingfeng said slowly, his voice growing calmer and more resolute. "Because you are me, and I am you. To deny you is to deny myself. To escape you is to escape myself. To extinguish you... is to extinguish myself."

He took a deep breath, and the Qilin tattoo on his chest began to feel slightly warm.

It wasn't the scorching, violent heat of before; it was a gentle, peaceful warmth, like the rising sun...

"I want to...control you."

He spoke the last four words very softly, but they were like a thunderclap, exploding in the illusion and deep within the consciousness of the inner demons!

"What?!" The inner demon's pupils shrank sharply.

Nie Lingfeng stopped speaking.

He closed his eyes.

In his mind, the cold and violent inherited memories belonging to the demonic blade "Snow Drink," the restless and wild innate power belonging to the Qilin "Mad Blood," the darkness and madness accumulated in countless killings and buried deep in his heart... all the "demonic nature," all the "negativity," all the "darkness" were no longer forcibly suppressed by the Ice Heart Technique, no longer deliberately guided by the Seeking Ease Technique, and no longer desperately rejected by his will.

Instead, it's about being accepted.

To be understood.

To be... taken seriously.

Like accepting your own shadow, like understanding your own breath, like facing your own left and right hands.

Demon Heart Crossing - Step Two: Domination!

With a heart free of desires, one can tame demonic nature as if riding a wild horse, as if riding a raging wind, as if steering a ship!

The devil serves me, not I control the devil!

My heart is the heart of Heaven, and my will is the will of Heaven!

My demonic nature is also my power!

"boom--!!!"

The Qilin tattoo on Nie Lingfeng's chest suddenly burst forth with dazzling golden light!

That wasn't bloodshed, nor was it a fierce light; it was pure gold, like the rising sun, like the flames of rebirth, like... the light of rebirth after washing away the impurities and undergoing a complete transformation!

Golden light spread from his chest, instantly enveloping his entire body! His gray hair moved without wind in the golden light, each strand standing on end! The wounds all over his body healed, scabbed over, and fell off at a speed visible to the naked eye in the golden light, revealing the new, tougher skin underneath!

He opened his eyes.

Golden light swirled in his eyes, then slowly subsided, returning to depth, to tranquility, to… a clarity that encompassed everything, as if it could see through all things in the world.

"Now," Nie Lingfeng looked at his inner demon and smiled. The smile was faint, but genuine, without mockery or malice, only a sense of... relief and control, "It's your turn... to return."

He reached out his hand, not to grasp the hand of the inner demon, but... only to loosely grasp it.

With fingers spread and palm facing the inner demon, he made a "retract" gesture.

"Buzz—!!!"

The inner demon let out a resentful, hateful, and mad roar!

He wanted to resist, to struggle, to pounce on Nie Lingfeng and tear him apart, but his body... was out of his control.

He was like a painting, being erased and wiped away by an invisible hand holding an eraser, starting from the edges...

Starting from his feet, it crumbled and dissipated inch by inch, turning into countless black, ink-like specks of light that flew into Nie Lingfeng's palm and merged into his body.

The mountains of corpses and seas of blood began to collapse, disintegrate, and dissipate, like a painting soaked in water, the ink spreading, the image blurring, and finally... completely disappearing.

The illusion has been shattered.

---

Reality lies beneath the facade.

Wang Feng's smile froze.

He stood there—his true form, not the Blood Shadow—his face pale, his pupils contracting sharply, staring in disbelief at Nie Lingfeng ten feet away.

The opponent who was overwhelmed by "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons: Heart-Eating Illusion," who should have collapsed in the illusion, had his soul torn apart, and then been easily harvested by him, now... slowly opened his eyes.

His eyes were bright and clear, like the sky after the rain, like an ancient pool in the deep mountains. There was no bloodshot, no madness, no confusion, only a calm, almost cold, tranquility.

But beneath the calm, Wang Feng could sense an even more dangerous, more profound, and more... power that made his soul tremble, awakening within Nie Lingfeng's body.

That's not an increase in the "quantity" of power, but a qualitative transformation.

Like a piece of stubborn iron, after being hammered and forged countless times, it finally... transforms into refined steel.

"You..." Wang Feng took a step back, his voice dry and trembling. "How could you... break through my 'Hundred Ghosts Devouring the Heart'? That's an illusion that directly attacks the soul, digs out inner demons, and triggers the darkest desires within! Even a supreme master like the Old Celestial Master, with a perfected state of mind, would have to exert considerable effort to break free from it! You... you're only in your early twenties! How could you..."

"The Old Celestial Master is the Old Celestial Master, and I am me." Nie Lingfeng spoke, his voice soft, but each word was like a heavy hammer, striking Wang Feng's heart and penetrating the depths of his soul. "Your illusion showed me... some interesting things. Some things I've known for a long time, but have never dared to face."

He paused, looked at Wang Feng's pale and terrified face, and smiled slightly:

"So, thank you."

"Th...thank you?" Wang Feng was stunned, completely not understanding what Nie Lingfeng was talking about.

"Yes." Nie Lingfeng nodded, slowly raising the Snow Drinking Blade in his hand. The blade gleamed, reflecting his calm face, as well as Wang Feng's terrified expression. "In return, I will let you... die a quick death. You won't be like Wang Ai, burning yourself to sacrifice your clan, ending up as a dried-up corpse. Nor will you die like Wang Bing, dying a resentful and bitter death. You will die... cleanly."

As soon as he finished speaking, he moved.

It was not the speed of the Wind God Leg, nor the power of the Cloud Dispelling Palm, nor the chilling coldness of the Heavenly Frost Fist.

It is... a completely new fighting style that Wang Feng has never seen or even heard of before.

Top Ten Martial Arts!

Knife, spear, sword, halberd, staff, fist, palm, leg, claw, finger—ten kinds of weapons, ten kinds of martial arts, are all at his disposal, perfectly natural, and he can switch between them freely without any hesitation!

At times, he was as fierce and domineering as a swordsman, wielding the Snow Drinking Blade with overwhelming sword energy. Every strike was aimed at vital points, and every strike carried the determination to cut everything in its path!

At times, he was as swift and precise as a gunman. Although he didn't have a gun, he used his palm as a weapon. His palm wind was as solid as a spear, piercing the air and emitting a sharp whistling sound!

At times, he is as agile and unpredictable as a swordsman, his figure elusive, his sword fingers striking repeatedly, each finger aimed at acupoints, each finger containing penetrating force!

At times, he moved with the sweeping, powerful strokes of a halberd general. Although he did not have a halberd, he used his legs instead, his leg winds sweeping across like halberd blades, leaving blood and shadows scattered and the ground cracked wherever he went!

The staff's steadiness, the fist's power, the palm's extension, the leg's speed, the claw's ruthlessness, the finger's precision...

Ten weapons, ten artistic conceptions, are perfectly integrated in him, and he can switch between them at will, as if he was born to fight and exist for killing!

There are no fixed moves, no fixed routines, and no fixed style.

Only the purest, most direct, most effective, and most lethal attacks...

Every move was aimed at Wang Feng's weaknesses, every style countered the changes in the Divine Coating Formation, and every attack left Wang Feng flustered and exhausted!

Wang Feng's expression changed drastically!

He wildly brandished his blood-red longsword, fully activating the Divine Paint Array. He painted tigers, pythons, eagles, ghosts, mountains, water, knives, swords... countless blood-red beasts, weapons, and even strange phenomena of heaven and earth burst forth from the ink marks and pounced on Nie Lingfeng!

But... it didn't work.

In the face of the top ten martial arts masters, those fancy "paintings" are like paper, crumbling at the slightest touch.

Nie Lingfeng cleaved a blood-red tiger in two with a single slash, shattered a blood-red python with his fist, destroyed a blood-red vulture with his palm strike, swept away blood-red ghostly figures with his leg strike, and shattered blood-red swords with his fingertips…

He was like a precise, perfect machine born for killing. Every step he took was precisely timed to coincide with the gaps in Wang Feng's attacks, and every move he made hit the weak points in Wang Feng's defense. With each strike, Wang Feng's aura weakened a little, his face paled a little, and the fear in his eyes deepened a little.

Wang Feng suffered repeated defeats, retreating from under the archway to the middle section of the bluestone road, and then from the middle section to the open space in front of the ancestral hall.

He could feel the immense, chaotic power within him, born from the blood sacrifice, rapidly dwindling. It was like a bucket of water riddled with countless holes, leaking away frantically. Meanwhile, Nie Lingfeng… grew stronger with each battle, his aura growing ever stronger, as if the illusion from before had not weakened him, but rather… transformed him, allowing him to break free from his cocoon and become a butterfly.

"Impossible... This is impossible..." Wang Feng muttered to himself, his voice trembling, and his eyes finally revealed genuine, undisguised fear.

He had considered the possibility of losing, but he never expected to lose so thoroughly, so... without any chance of fighting back.

He turned to flee, to retreat back to the ancestral hall, to activate the last mechanisms and traps within...

But Nie Lingfeng had already appeared in front of him.

Like a ghost, he moved silently, as if he had always been standing there, waiting for Wang Feng to walk into his trap.

The Snow Drinking Blade was placed against Wang Feng's neck.