"Ding~ You imbued the sixth-rank pure demon rose with 1200 days of cultivation, receiving a hundredfold return and gaining 120,000 days of cultivation."
The first infusion directly provided a tenfold cultivation return, filling Yang Hong's mana to its maximum.
His spiritual sense had been full since he had previously supernaturally delivered the Yin souls.
Much of the soul energy hadn't even been absorbed yet, and now, supernaturally delivering this Keshuo Demon Lord was the perfect way to digest it.
Yang Hong was at ease, but Keshuo Demon Lord was suffering.
After half a day of confrontation, he discovered that his origin demonic energy was subtly dissipating.
This situation was virtually impossible unless he was in a direct confrontation with an immortal of the same level.
But now, it was actually happening.
Therefore, he began to doubt Yang Hong's true identity.
"Little thing, who exactly are you? Which immortal have you reincarnated from?"
"Tai Shang Tai Xing, Ying Bian Wu Ting..."
Yang Hong looked up at the shadowy figure above him and continued to recite his scriptures.
He noticed that this Ghost Emperor was slowly shrinking, gradually solidifying.
When the Ghost Emperor had first broken through, its form had expanded to over three hundred zhang.
Now, its body was less than three hundred zhang.
However, this Ghost Emperor was not dissipating; it was continuously solidifying, and its power was slowly increasing.
"Fellow Daoist, cease your incantations, and I shall grant you eternal life!
Eternal life that lasts as long as heaven and earth!"
Keshuo Demon Lord's voice began to become polite, sounding as gentle as if it were not a ghost.
"Fellow Daoist, it seems you are not an immortal of the Daoist sect?
You must be an immortal of the Buddhist sect."
"Oh, no, you should be called a Buddha now.
I heard that your Buddhist sect's secession from the Immortal Realm and establishment of the Buddha Realm has been successful."
"Are you, Fellow Daoist, descending to the lower realm to convert Buddhist disciples?"
"..."
Hearing this, Yang Hong was secretly astonished.
He had no idea there were so many internal squabbles in the upper realm!
Originally, there were only the Immortal and Demonic Realms. Millions of years ago, the Demon Realm seceded. Now, it seemed the Buddha Realm might have also seceded.
The upper realm was too dangerous; he had to lie low in the lower realm until he absolutely couldn't anymore before ascending.
As for the possibility of not being able to ascend, Yang Hong hadn't considered it at all.
How could someone with a system not be able to ascend?
"Fellow Daoist, I possess the Buddhist scripture 'Ancient Scripture of Past Burning Lamps,' which can be cultivated to the level of Immortal Emperor.
I am willing to give it to you for free now. Please, temporarily dispel your Buddhist light protection."
Seeing that Yang Hong still ignored him and was silently chanting, Keshuo Demon Lord tried a different approach to tempt him.
"Fellow Daoist, since you are an immortal of the Buddhist sect, you must know that the three strongest Buddhist Immortal Emperors in the Immortal Realm are all cultivating the 'Ancient Scripture of Past Burning Lamps.'
If you cultivate it, you will definitely become the fourth-ranked Immortal Emperor!"
"The 'Ancient Scripture of Past Burning Lamps' also possesses the ability to see the past and trace its origins, and it also..."
Keshuo Demon Lord seemed to have concluded that Yang Hong was a reincarnated Buddhist immortal and ceaselessly hawked the 'Ancient Scripture of Past Burning Lamps.'
Slowly, Yang Hong began to show a hint of interest, and his chanting speed even slowed down slightly.
What he didn't know was that Keshuo Demon Lord's incessant talking had a hidden purpose.
His voice contained demonic energy and spiritual sense, possessing a power of bewitchment.
However, the cunning Keshuo Demon Lord, fearing Yang Hong's attention, injected only a small amount of demonic energy and spiritual sense. Instead, he used his peculiar voice to create a unique rhythm, making Yang Hong unknowingly let down his guard.
Gradually, Yang Hong's chanting became inaudible, and he fell asleep without realizing it.
Keshuo Demon Lord's voice also ceased.
However, the golden light of merit and the golden light of supernal salvation around Yang Hong did not disappear; they were still protecting him.
Suddenly, the golden light flashed.
"Scoundrel! Which Buddha's reincarnation is this fellow?
Not only does he have Buddhist light protection, but there's also merit within the light!"
In the suddenly silent deep pit, Keshuo Demon Lord's suppressed but furious voice echoed again.
He had just attempted to approach Yang Hong, intending to kill him.
But when he reached the final three feet, he was pushed back by the golden light.
"Gahahaha~ This body and soul are even more delicious. After devouring this fellow, I will surely break free from the seal and reappear on the Taiyuan Continent.
I will devour all the people on this continent."
Saliva continuously dripped from Keshuo Demon Lord's lips, and the black saliva, upon hitting the ground, created small pits several feet deep.
"Slurp~ Since direct proximity won't work, I will first kill you a few times in your dreams before devouring your soul."
Keshuo Demon Lord muttered to himself, then descended to the ground, shrinking his form to nine zhang tall, and sat down cross-legged opposite Yang Hong.
"Demon's Dream!"
After a wave of strange demonic sounds, the deep pit fell completely silent, not even the sound of a slight breeze could be heard.
...
At this moment, within the dreamscape, Yang Hong was experiencing a magical life.
After falling asleep, he had directly entered a dream.
In the dream, Yang Hong returned to a familiar place – the imperial palace of the Great Sui Dynasty.
He relived his childhood, a childhood that was very happy and fulfilling.
He had a dignified but doting father, Emperor Yang Jian, and a benevolent and graceful mother, Empress Wu.
He was the most intelligent prince, walking at one, speaking at three, reciting poetry at seven, possessing photographic memory at ten, and becoming increasingly favored.
Moreover, his elder brothers and sisters were all exceptionally kind to him.
"Mother, I want this palace maid;
Father, I want to cultivate this martial art;
Brother, I want to beat this eunuch to death."
Due to the pampering of the Emperor, Empress, and his elder siblings, Yang Hong's personality began to become increasingly arrogant and overbearing.
At the age of fourteen, he began cultivating martial arts, and his method of cultivation was extremely cruel – using living people as targets, killing and maiming them.
Initially, he only used condemned criminals as targets. Gradually, the condemned criminals could no longer satisfy his perverse psychological need for killing and abuse, and he began to randomly kill palace maids and eunuchs.
And such cruel behavior was actually supported by the Emperor and Empress.
At the age of eighteen, he was sent to Jiangnan.
He became even more ferocious, not only bullying men and women but also wantonly slaughtering the common people.
Finally, his cruel tyranny ignited a popular rebellion.
Then...
Yang Hong was beaten to death.
However, this was not the end, but the beginning.
After death, Yang Hong transformed into a vengeful spirit, cultivating demonic arts and continuously consuming the spirits and souls of living beings.
First, it was ordinary people, then martial artists.
Next were the cultivators who rushed to eliminate the evil spirits.
As a vengeful spirit, Yang Hong's demonic arts were extremely powerful, and no matter what kind of cultivator they were, they became his sustenance.
He continued to devour like this until he had eaten everyone and every demon on the Taiyuan Continent,
Then he ascended to the Immortal Realm, where he continued to eat.
However, he no longer just ate souls; he ate living immortals, demons, and devils.
Until he ate the Immortal Realm bare, then it was the Divine Realm.
In the latter half of the dream, Yang Hong was constantly devouring the souls of all the creatures he saw.
He seemed to have become lost in the dream.
Keshuo, who had entered Yang Hong's dream, was also dumbfounded.
"Holy crap, is this immortal reincarnated as a glutton? Why does he just keep eating?"
"And what about the Divine Realm? There's no Divine Realm above the Immortal Realm!"
"Holy crap, here we go again, what the hell is above the Celestial Firmament? And what is this Primordial World?
Hiss~ Still eating..."
Keshuo Demon Lord couldn't stand it any longer. He was already preparing to end the Demon's Dream technique.
He couldn't watch anymore; he would be scared to death.