Under One Person: Starting with the Dual Cultivation of Body and Soul.

“No!” Lu Linglong said firmly.

Li Chang'an nodded: "I don't think so either."

Lu Linglong's mother was murdered in the Lu family compound. Although most of the young and middle-aged members of the Lu family were engaged in business or learning skills in other places, many senior masters remained in the compound to live out their retirement.

How could an ordinary serial killer quietly break into the Lu family compound, kill Lu Linglong's mother, and then walk away unscathed?

Li Chang'an's first impression was that the case was closed hastily.

Moreover, this was likely a hasty conclusion with the tacit approval of the Lu family's higher-ups.

Because the company usually doesn't get involved in fights between superhumans as long as they don't affect ordinary society, but this case was closed as a regular murder case.

This situation...either Lu Linglong's mother is not a registered "superhuman" in the company, or the Lu family is deliberately downplaying the matter.

Li Chang'an didn't know the specifics, but he was certain that there was something much more to it than met the eye.

“Great minds think alike.” Lu Linglong smiled bitterly and said, “Brother Chang’an, I may be saying this to offend my deceased mother, but I really wish that murderer were still alive. I want to take revenge myself.”

She paused, then continued, "I know I do have a problem, maybe a really big one. I don't know if I want to bleed myself dry, but I'm pretty sure I want to bleed that guy dry."

Chapter 146 Infected

Li Chang'an nodded: "Wanting to bleed your enemy dry is a good thing, but you can't bleed yourself dry. You have to learn to control your own abilities and control yourself in order to control your enemy."

Lu Linglong quickly asked, "Brother Chang'an, do you have a way to control this ability?"

"Let me experience it for myself; perhaps I can find it." Li Chang'an instructed Lu Linglong to use her abilities on him.

"This isn't quite right... I've never used this ability on anyone before."

"Don't worry, your abilities can't hurt me."

Before she could finish speaking, Lu Linglong had already scratched her palm with her fingernail. A few drops of bright red blood floated above her palm.

"Senior Brother Chang'an, what do you think we should do to test it?" Lu Linglong asked eagerly.

Li Chang'an looked at the string of blood beads that kept changing in Lu Linglong's palm, then stretched out his right hand and deliberately dispelled the defense on his palm.

"Come on. Put your blood into my palm and let me feel it from the inside."

"Into your palm?" Lu Linglong was taken aback. "You mean, you want me to inject my blood directly into your body?"

"That's right!"

"I've thought about this before, injecting my own blood into my body and then suddenly detonating it to cause damage from the inside out, but I've only thought about it and haven't actually experimented with it."

"Just shoot it into the body, no need to detonate it!"

As she spoke, the blood in Lu Linglong's palm instantly congealed into a sharp blood cone, which shot out like a bullet and hit Li Chang'an's palm. It spun like a drill, but it couldn't break through Li Chang'an's skin for a long time.

"Push harder, I can take it," Li Chang'an said.

Lu Linglong increased her output, and the Blood Cone slowly sank into Li Chang'an's palm.

Lu Linglong quickly relinquished control of the Blood Cone: "What's next!"

"You don't need to worry about it anymore, just stand there quietly."

After saying this, Li Chang'an closed his eyes, his consciousness rose, and he used the awareness of his intermediate state to feel the drop of foreign blood that had invaded his body. He felt a large number of delusions, which turned into eerie whispers that sang in his ears.

The whispers were clearer and more complete than when he last held the blood-stained blade; they seemed to be inciting him to commit a crime, or praising evil.

Pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust are the seven deadly sins that appear most frequently.

With each whisper, a corresponding delusion surged within his mind.

Arrogance made him look down on all living beings, jealousy made him covet what others possessed, and rage made him yearn to destroy everything... These whispered voices were not noisy; Li Chang'an even sensed a sincerity in them, as if they were sincerely inviting him to take a seat, join them, and become a member.

Li Chang'an, with his intermediate state of consciousness, saw all of this, watching those delusions churn in the lake of his mind, but they could not stir up any waves.

His id-centric thinking sits high above his mind, and this little delusion is not enough to shake him.

However, strangely, he found that these delusions did not dissipate just because they could not affect his id; instead, they were like wedges, fitting perfectly into his sexuality.

Sexuality is divided into the conscious spirit and the original spirit. The conscious spirit is the delusional thought. Because it has been integrated with those whispered delusional thoughts, the conscious spirit has become much stronger. If it were an ordinary person, their mental state would definitely plummet and their sexual power would be greatly reduced. However, Li Chang'an was already able to use the original spirit to guide the conscious spirit. No matter how strong the conscious spirit became, it would be difficult to move his original spirit and true self.

But soon, Li Chang'an discovered that it wasn't just about sex; the blood Lu Linglong injected into his body wasn't expelled, but rather integrated into his body and his life, bringing about certain changes.

"I think I've been infected by Linglong, and the infection is affecting my entire life!" Li Chang'an thought to himself.

However, in front of Lu Linglong, he did not immediately check what changes had just occurred to him.

"Brother Chang'an? How are you feeling? Have you found a solution?" Lu Linglong asked hurriedly.

"We found something."

Li Chang'an looked down at his palm, shook his hand, and white energy surged in his palm, healing the previous wound.

"Your ability isn't just simple blood control. There's something else in your blood. Before you can control it, the more you use your ability, the more it will infiltrate you. It was right for Grandpa not to let you use it."

He paused, then continued, "It's not that there's a problem with your personality; it's that this thing can cause problems with your personality, so controlling how often you use it is very necessary."

"Make my personality problematic?" Lu Linglong suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. So how should I control it and prevent it from controlling me?"

"This requires practice!"

How to exercise?

"As a practitioner of Quanzhen Taoism, you must understand the primordial spirit and the consciousness spirit, right?"

“Yes!” Lu Linglong nodded and said, “My master often tells me this!”

Li Chang'an said, "Everything this world does to you, everything it shapes, is essentially shaping your consciousness, and then your consciousness influences you. But if you can distinguish between your consciousness and your primordial spirit, then this world can no longer cast a shadow on you. This is also the key point that sexual cultivation revolves around."

"If you don't want to be affected by this ability, then you need to learn to find your own soul. Whether it's desires or emotions, these are products guided by the objective world. They are not unique to you. Therefore, you need to examine every thought of yours and see clearly whether the thought is your own or external."

As he spoke, Li Chang'an stretched out his finger and poked his palm: "It's like pain, which is an unavoidable existence under external rules, but can you not respond to this pain in your own mind and thus not generate negative emotions?"

Lu Linglong thought for a moment and said, "I might be able to bear it, but I'll definitely still feel a little uncomfortable inside."

“Yes!” Li Chang’an nodded: “But I can. I can regulate my emotions without being influenced by anything from the outside world. In other words, even if you are a very good person, I can kill you as easily as pulling a soda can without any psychological burden.”

"I can also refrain from killing a heinous person. Even though we live in a world full of rules, as long as our hearts are not bound by those rules, we are free."

This is a state that many accomplished practitioners reach.

Take the Old Master for example. If he decides to kill someone, he won't have any psychological burden. It's as simple as opening a can of soda.

For example, when he met Xia He, if it were a famous master or teacher, seeing his prized disciple with a notorious Quanxing demon, he would definitely eliminate her. But he had no qualms about it.

Because he is not burdened by external factors, his mind and body are free.

Li Chang'an looked at Lu Linglong: "If you can do it, or even just half of it, you will be able to completely eliminate the influence of this ability on you."

Chapter 147 Demon Form

Lu Linglong said thoughtfully, "It sounds simple, but how should I do it?"

“Clearly define your cultivation goals, and then continue your current cultivation!” After a pause, Li Chang’an added, “Of course, you can also add some other aspects of training.”

"Other aspects of training? For example..." Lu Linglong asked.

“For example…” Li Chang’an recalled the whispers that had been echoing in his mind, and suddenly thought of the divine mask that Wang Zhenqiu cultivated.

The practice of cultivating a divine mask cannot be separated from the power of faith, which is the power of the wishes of all beings, that is, the heartfelt voice when making a wish to God.

When one comes into contact with the power of faith, one hears these inner voices, which in turn have some impact on oneself. Although Li Chang'an had never cultivated the Godhood Mask, he had faced the seven-colored power of faith directly in his competition with Wang Zhenqiu.

He felt that the power of faith was somewhat similar to the whispers he had heard before, but compared to those whispers that glorified sin and incited crime, the power of faith was undoubtedly much lighter.

Because most of the wishes people make to the gods are positive and uplifting.

After all, it's impossible to make evil and lewd wishes to bodhisattvas and Buddhas, unless you're actually making a wish to an evil deity.

Similar in type but with less impact, this is a good training target. One can train oneself through the power of faith and enhance one's ability to resist the whispers.

Moreover, perhaps because Lu Linglong has never developed her abilities, she hasn't yet touched the Whispering ability. If she strengthens her training in this area now, when she inevitably comes into contact with it in the future, the impact will be smaller, and she might even be able to master its power, instead of being passively turned into a horned red demon like in the story.

Li Chang'an shared his thoughts with Lu Linglong.

Upon hearing this, Lu Linglong exclaimed in shock, "Brother Chang'an, you want me to learn to be a court jester?"

"It's not about learning from entertainers, but simply using the power of their faith to hone oneself."

"Do you have a method for collecting faith power?" Lu Linglong asked.

“I don’t have it, but there will soon be a fellow disciple in the sect who has this ability.”

Lu Linglong instantly realized: "You mean... the blond cancer, Wang Zhenqiu?"

She also knew that Wang Zhenqiu had been pestering her great-grandfather to teach her the Threefold Reversal of Life technique.

Li Chang'an nodded.

"Has the master decided to take him in?" Lu Linglong asked.

“We’re short of people right now. He has great talent for cultivation, why not take him on?” Li Chang’an said.

“That’s true!” Lu Linglong said, “After all, everything depends on people. So when should I go and learn from him? Should I ask for leave and go back to my hometown for a while?”

When it came to going back to her hometown, Lu Linglong was quite eager to do so.

"Let's wait a while. He's still taking his exams in the lower academy. Let's wait until he's formally accepted the teachings before making a decision."

After exchanging a few more words, Li Chang'an dismissed Lu Linglong and returned to his room.

Previously, Li Chang'an's intermediate state consciousness triggered certain underlying codes in Lu Linglong's blood, causing her blood to invade Li Chang'an's life and have some impact on him.

Previously, in front of Lu Linglong, Li Chang'an had no intention of delving into the matter further.

Now, he wants to see what the impact will actually be.

Li Chang'an closed his eyes, his mind sank, and following his previous feeling, his thoughts stirred slightly, and a faint stinging pain came from his palm.

Immediately afterwards, a bizarre mutation began to spread rapidly from the palm of the hand to the entire body, causing the fair skin to crack inch by inch, and fine, hard white scales to appear on the surface.

The originally slender fingers made a cracking sound as the bones shifted and bent rapidly, transforming into sharp claws with long, gleaming nails growing from the tips.

"His!"

His clothes were torn from behind, and a pair of huge white membranous wings burst out from his shoulder blades, suddenly opening and casting a huge cross-shaped shadow in the room.

A head of snow-white hair moved wildly behind her head without any wind, and a throbbing pain came from both sides of her forehead. Two white bone horns broke through the skin and pointed obliquely at the ceiling.

Li Chang'an opened his eyes, his pupils bursting with intense white light. He exuded a strange contrast, possessing both the compassion and nobility of a god, and the ferocity and violence of a demon from the abyss.

"You are the only perfect creation in the world..."

"Those mortals are nothing but ants beneath our feet..."

"Even crawling at your feet, I am not worthy to touch the hem of your robe..."

"Use your power to trample on all the rules of this world..."

Along with the changes in her body, seductive whispers began to constantly echo in her mind.

Li Chang'an remained unmoved by the tidal wave of malicious whispers.

He raised his hands and carefully examined his claws, which were covered in white scales.

"This state... is somewhat similar to the demonic form that Lu Linglong displayed on Nathan Island in the original storyline."

"However, in the story, Lu Linglong was infected by that supernatural being called the 'Malignant Disease' and became a familiar. And me... could it be that I was infected by Lu Linglong's blood and became a familiar? But..."

Li Chang'an reached out and touched the pair of bony horns that had grown on his forehead. He looked at himself in the mirror again. The horns were white and, under the light, faintly shimmered like jade.

"As far as I know, in the Directory Organization, only high-ranking members have horns on their heads; the horns symbolize status."

"Generally speaking, the relatives developed by members of the list cannot have horns."

"I have horns because Lu Linglong has a relatively high rank in the system, and as her infected person, I benefited from it?"

"Or is it... because of me?"

After a moment's thought, Li Chang'an felt that the second possibility was more likely.

In the Directory Organization, the horn represents an absolute class hierarchy. Members without horns must unconditionally obey the orders of members with horns; this is an insurmountable class divide.

But the so-called "insurmountable barrier" is ultimately nothing more than controlling the consciousness by manipulating the delusions in the other person's mind.

Li Chang'an's primordial spirit sat high on the spiritual platform, his true self's thoughts undisturbed by delusions, and the rules of the List Organization did not exist for him.

Even if he didn't have horns, the members with horns couldn't control him at all.