# Chapter 837: Endless Obsession
"How do we bet?" Xuanyuan Wentian asked without any hesitation.
"It's the... Demon Wheel Blood Sacrifice!"
"Demon Wheel Blood Sacrifice?"
"Just like the Demon Blood Reincarnation Art that was inflicted upon Fen Juechen a thousand years ago, the Demon Wheel Blood Sacrifice is a unique forbidden art of my Eternal Night Demon Clan." The Sword Demon Soul said in a sinister tone: "This Eternal Night forbidden art can transform a mortal spirit into dark blood water, then devour it into the demon body, and obtain all its life essence and power... Listen carefully, *all* of it!"
"...!" Xuanyuan Wentian's pupils violently shook as he said in a low voice: "That is to say, directly seize all of a person's life and cultivation? Without any loss? Such a terrifying forbidden art actually exists in this world?"
"Correct! The power of my Eternal Night Demon Clan is far beyond what mortals like you can comprehend." The Sword Demon Soul said arrogantly: "However, this forbidden art can only be used on mortal spirits, and is completely useless against beings with divine or demonic power. The initial demons of my Eternal Night Demon Clan occasionally use this forbidden art to devour mortal spirits to increase their power. For mature demons, the power of mortal spirits is insignificant and contemptible, and the blood of mortal spirits is often tainted with filth, so they disdain to use it at all. But for Fen Juechen, using the 'Demon Wheel Blood Sacrifice' would cause his power to skyrocket wildly!"
Xuanyuan Wentian was extremely shrewd, and immediately understood the meaning of the Sword Demon Soul: "Are you saying... let Fen Juechen use the 'Demon Wheel Blood Sacrifice' to devour me?"
"Correct!" The Sword Demon Soul said darkly: "Then, your physical body will completely disappear, and your life essence and cultivation will be wholly obtained by Fen Juechen! You have seen with your own eyes how powerful Fen Juechen is right now. If the power of the two of you is combined, in this plane, who can be your opponent? And this is far from a simple one-plus-one; the combination of your strengths will inevitably create a qualitative change in power, allowing you to directly step into the Divine Path that you have dreamed of for all these years... Remember, not a possibility, but a certainty!"
Xuanyuan Wentian: "..."
"Furthermore, the demon blood within Fen Juechen's body has only awakened initially, far from its limit. It will take another half year to fully awaken. After your powers merge, you will already be invincible under heaven, but for every day of the following six months, your power will continue to skyrocket. In just a few short months, it will grow to a realm you wouldn't even dare to dream of before—a realm you simply cannot comprehend now!!"
Xuanyuan Wentian's eyes suddenly emitted a glow of scorching, almost maddening intensity, but his voice remained calm and steady: "Demon Lord, haven't you forgotten the most crucial part?"
"Hehehe," the Sword Demon Soul laughed sinisterly: "With your intelligence, you should have roughly guessed the thing I didn't mention, which is also the most crucial part... That's right! The 'Demon Wheel Blood Sacrifice' devours and merges life essence and power, but at the same time it also fuses the soul! Mortal souls before a demon god's soul are like fireflies before the vast ocean, and will be annihilated in an instant. But Fen Juechen's situation is completely different from yours! Fen Juechen possesses a weak demon body and demon soul; you have a mortal body. He can use the 'Demon Wheel Blood Sacrifice' on you, but your soul power far surpasses Fen Juechen's!"
"Fen Juechen uses his demon body to perform the 'Demon Wheel Blood Sacrifice', merging your life essence and power. Your fleshly body will completely disappear, and at the same time, your soul will enter Fen Juechen's body. What happens next is very simple. Since your soul's strength far exceeds Fen Juechen's, you can easily crush his soul in turn, becoming the new master of his body, thereby completely possessing his demon body with awakened demon blood. And my demon soul power can also be fully used by you!"
"..." Xuanyuan Wentian was silent, then gave a light snort: "So that's how it is."
"So, it depends on whether you are willing to give up your own fleshly body! And more importantly, whether you dare to take the gamble! If you succeed, you will directly step into the Divine Path you dream of, becoming invincible under heaven, and in this plane, you can even achieve unprecedented and unmatched greatness! But if by chance you lose... not only will you lose your fleshly body, but your soul will scatter as well!"
Xuanyuan Wentian's eyes slowly narrowed as he said in a low voice: "The demon blood in Fen Juechen's body has only awakened for a little over ten days. Calling it a 'demon body' is a bit too weak. Are you certain his 'demon body' can perform that forbidden art?"
"Heh, of course." The Sword Demon Soul said with considerable disdain: "Although the Demon Wheel Blood Sacrifice is a forbidden art, it is actually a low-level method used only by newborn demons. It is listed as a 'forbidden art' only because it is performed by devouring the flesh and blood of mortal spirits. If used too frequently, it can easily attract divine punishment from the Heavenly Dao. With my current soul power, I have at least a ninety percent chance of driving his demon body to perform the Demon Wheel Blood Sacrifice once."
"And what is the 'one in ten thousand chance of losing and having your soul scatter'?" Xuanyuan Wentian asked.
"Very simple. That is if your soul is instead suppressed by Fen Juechen. The consequence will be that you do not become the master of the demon body that merges all your power, but instead Fen Juechen obtains all of this! And you, both body and soul, will completely vanish from this world. Hehehehe..."
The final laugh of the Sword Demon Soul seemed to be a kind of mockery.
"Hahahahaha!" Xuanyuan Wentian burst into loud laughter: "My heart and soul have been tempered for two thousand years. That mere Fen Juechen deserves to make my soul scatter? What an absolute joke."
His voice suddenly stopped, and he spoke with an unusually calm tone: "Ever since I learned of the existence of the Divine Path back then, pursuing the Divine Path has been the sole aspiration of my life. Now that it is right before my eyes, I wouldn't even frown at a thousand or a hundred times the danger... So, let's begin now! In the face of absolute power, what does a fleshly body amount to?"
"Hehehehe, very good. You have not disappointed me. I am nothing but a remnant soul, barely surviving within the sword, unable to exist independently. I can only attach myself to others. Although you are merely a human, your obsession with power is like madness, and you are worthy to become my wielder!"
The Sword Demon Soul said darkly: "The Demon Wheel Blood Sacrifice can begin at any time, but during this process, you must ensure that Fen Juechen is in a state of unconsciousness. If his will is awake, I will be completely controlled by him, and there will be no way to forcibly stimulate the power of his demon blood... Ah... He... he... is awake..."
The voice of the Sword Demon Soul suddenly weakened, then completely disappeared.
And below, Fen Juechen, with blood flowing from his seven orifices, suddenly opened his jet-black eyes and flipped over to rise... But hundreds of sword Qi had burrowed into his body, causing severe injuries. Before he could even steady himself, he fell heavily to his knees, his entire body trembling in pain.
"Xuan... yuan... Wentian..." Fen Juechen raised his blood-stained eyes, staring fixedly at Xuanyuan Wentian in the air, every word filled with boundless hatred.
He reached out his hand. A flash of black light passed, and the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword let out a clang, flying away from Xuanyuan Wentian's hand and instantly returning to Fen Juechen's side, slanting into the black soil.
Xuanyuan Wentian made no move to stop it. He descended from the air and landed in front of Fen Juechen, a smile on his face, saying with considerable admiration: "Having taken my Non-Return Sword and not only surviving but waking up so quickly, should I praise your extraordinary will, or marvel at how remarkable your demon body truly is?"
"You..." Fen Juechen gritted his teeth, a stream of black-red blood sliding down from the corner of his mouth.
Xuanyuan Wentian paid no heed to his murderous stare, which was like that of a fierce demon, and said with a genial smile: "A thousand years ago, Ye Mufeng's sudden power surge gave me a bit of a fright, but even more of a surprise. I never expected that a thousand years later, his son would give me an even greater surprise! Although you want to kill me, do you know how grateful I am to you, Fen Juechen... Oh no, perhaps I should call you..."
"Ye Huang!"
"Ugh..." Fen Juechen was struck as if by lightning, his pupils instantly dilating to their maximum.
"Hehe, don't make such a shocked expression. I told you long ago, the things I know are far more than you imagine, and even far more than what you yourself know."
Xuanyuan Wentian spread his hands, looked up at the sky, and intoxicatedly used his body to feel the world... because this body was about to be abandoned by him: "There is still plenty of time. This body has been with me for over two thousand years. For this final farewell, let me tell you an interesting story."
"About ten thousand years ago, a person happened to pick up a pitch-black sword. There was an extremely powerful seal on the sword, and within the sword was sealed a weak soul. This soul had been sealed for too many years. It yearned for freedom, but with its own power, not only could it not break the seal, it would eventually be completely devoured by the seal. To survive, it did not hesitate to set aside its dignity, begging the person who picked it up for mercy, and voluntarily offered the only drop of demon blood it had and a powerful profound art, only asking that the person remove the seal on the sword."
"Hiss..." Fen Juechen was breathing heavily.
"The person who picked up the sword agreed to its request, absorbed that drop of demon blood, cultivated that profound art, and obtained great power. But immediately, he felt his nature being influenced, so he stopped cultivating. He even spent an extremely long time developing a bloodline seal, forcibly sealing the demon blood within himself. Even the descendants who inherited his bloodline, especially direct descendants, would have this bloodline seal placed upon them at the very moment of birth."
"As for that profound art, even without the support of demon blood, it was still extremely powerful. Relying on that profound art, a formerly obscure family force rose rapidly, soon becoming one of the most top-tier profound forces on the entire continent, and renamed themselves the 'Eternal Night Royal Clan'. That profound art was the once-famous 'Eternal Night Illusion God Record'... Oh no, its true name should be called... the Eternal Night Illusion Demon Scripture!"
Fen Juechen's pained expression changed again and again, his pupils violently contracting under Xuanyuan Wentian's voice... These were clearly things he only learned after obtaining Ye Mufeng's remnant soul, absolute secrets known only to the line of the Eternal Night Royal Clan's patriarch. How could Xuanyuan Wentian possibly...
Xuanyuan Wentian clasped his hands behind his back and continued matter-of-factly: "As for that sword... The Eternal Night Royal Clan rose to power relying on the profound art bestowed by that sword, but they completely violated their initial promise. Not only did they fail to remove its seal, they added dozens of powerful seals on top of it, even locked it away in a flame pool, and designated it as the clan's greatest forbidden ground, forbidding anyone from approaching... Tsk tsk, without the grace of that sword, who in the world would have known of the Eternal Night Royal Clan? What utter ingratitude and shamelessness."
"Such a despicable clan is nothing but a disgrace to the path of the profound. So I, as the sword master, acted on behalf of heaven, causing this so-called Eternal Night Royal Clan to completely vanish from the world. Hoo..." Xuanyuan Wentian let out a light breath, his smile radiant.
"Xuanyuan Wentian..." Fen Juechen's eyes seemed to bleed, his teeth about to shatter: "You are the most despicable and shameless person in this world..."
"Don't get so excited now," Xuanyuan Wentian still wore a beaming expression: "The disappearance of the Eternal Night Royal Clan is not the end. On the contrary, it is only the beginning. Aren't you curious about how I know these things, how I know what the power within you is, and how I know your other name... Heh."
"After annihilating the Eternal Night Royal Clan, I found a simple opportunity, easily obtained the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, and unlocked several of its seals. The demon soul within the sword told me everything, told me all the secrets, told me that the demon soul could awaken the demon blood, and that if all seals were removed, the fading demon soul could gradually revive through the demon blood. When the demon soul and demon blood merged, they would give birth to power beyond the comprehension of this plane."
"But I learned these things too late. Because the Eternal Night Royal Clan had been completely wiped out, and Ye Mufeng was left with only his indestructible strange soul. There was no more demon blood in the world... However, the demon soul within the sword told me one thing. Ye Mufeng had a son named Ye Huang, who died miserably during the extermination. To save her dead son, Ye Jianxi, the Eternal Night Queen, did not hesitate to violate the strict ancestral teachings, using a forbidden technique from the 'Eternal Night Illusion Demon Scripture' to forcibly imprison Ye Huang's soon-to-scatter soul and all his vital blood. Using two-tenths of Ye Mufeng's soul as a guide, she initiated a reincarnation forbidden art that defied the Heavenly Dao, allowing Ye Huang's soul and vital blood to persist without dissipating for a long time, and under special circumstances, be reborn through reincarnation in another body... Tsk, worthy of being power at the demonic level. Truly extraordinary. If I hadn't heard it with my own ears and seen it with my own eyes, even I would not have believed that such a heaven-defying art existed in this world."
"You...!!" Fen Juechen's entire body turned cold, his blood flow as if frozen... He couldn't believe that Xuanyuan Wentian even knew this!
What was going on?
At this moment, he had a terrifying feeling. Everything he had thought was extremely secret, even hard for himself to accept—had it all been under a pair of terrifying eyes all along...
"Heh, what a beautiful arrangement of fate. Ye Mufeng and Ye Jianxi wanted to leave a thread of bloodline after the Eternal Night Royal Clan's destruction, but they also left the final demon blood for me, the sword master! Over the past thousand years, guided by the demon soul in the sword, I have been monitoring the movements of the demon blood under the reincarnation forbidden art at all times... Until a little over twenty years ago, the final demon blood finally got its chance, being reborn through reincarnation in a sect called the Fen Tian Gate in the Cang Feng Country, becoming the third son of the sect master..."
"Ah!!" Fen Juechen's pupils almost exploded. Every word, every sentence from Xuanyuan Wentian was like a voice from the abyss, filling his heart with unprecedented fear.
"Soon, I had everything arranged." Xuanyuan Wentian lowered his head and said somberly: "Do you know why Ye Mufeng's remnant soul was placed in that place in the Heisha Country? Because that is the location with the heaviest yin energy in the Tian Xuan Continent. Combined with the Soul-Sealing Coffin, it ensured Ye Mufeng's remnant soul would not dissipate for a thousand years. Do you know how your grandfather Fen Yijue obtained that key? Heh, I personally handed it to him and personally implanted a mental suggestion into him."
"Speaking of which, my original plan was to slaughter the entire Fen Tian Gate three years ago, leaving only you alive. Then, driven by vengeance, you would take the key Fen Yijue gave you and go find Ye Mufeng. I never expected that a certain Yun Che would appear halfway and make all of this happen early. Fortunately, although he slaughtered the entire Fen Tian Gate, he happened to leave you alive. Although the timing was slightly off, neither the process nor the result was affected in any way. It was still perfectly flawless. After that, you successfully found Ye Mufeng, awakened the memories belonging to Ye Huang, and unexpectedly obtained part of Ye Mufeng's power. After that, what you wanted most must have been to reclaim the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword, because the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword could unlock the demon blood seal in your bloodline, allowing your power to surge like Ye Mufeng's a thousand years ago, so you could take revenge... And this was exactly what I hoped to see."
"I used the 'Secret of Divine Profound' as bait to gather all the top experts of the Tian Xuan Continent and convened the Demon Sword Assembly. My goal was to unlock the final seal on the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword. The Demon Sword Assembly was a complete success. The next thing to do was to let you obtain the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword with its seals fully unlocked. Because the first thing you would do after obtaining the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword would certainly be to awaken the demon blood! And the demon soul in the sword, freed from its seal, could gradually revive through your demon blood. After recovering enough demon soul power, it could forcibly reclaim the demon blood and bestow it upon me, allowing me to possess both demon blood and demon soul, granting me supreme power... That red-clad demoness disrupted everything, but she unintentionally helped me deliver the unsealed Heavenly Sin Divine Sword into your hands. Hahahaha! Without a doubt, this is the Heavenly Dao's reward for my thousand years of persistence." Xuanyuan Wentian laughed loudly.
Bang!
Fen Juechen's arm heavily struck the ground. His entire body trembled, drenched in sweat, as if he had collapsed.
Ever since the destruction of the Fen Tian Gate, his world had been left with only the word "revenge." For revenge, he took the black key Fen Yijue had given him before his death, braving countless dangers to reach the land of death in the Heisha Country... For revenge, he desperately absorbed and merged the power from Ye Mufeng's demon source, even though the pain of the soul sources repelling each other was like torture in hell... For revenge, he risked immense danger to go alone to the Supreme Sea Palace... For revenge, even knowing it would warp his will and nature, he used the Heavenly Sin Divine Sword to awaken the demon blood within him...
Today, he finally learned that all the hatred, all the pain, all the efforts he had experienced and endured were actually calculated and arranged by someone else!!
And that person was also the culprit who caused the destruction of the Eternal Night Royal Clan and all his tragedies... the person he hated the most in this life, the one he most wanted to kill.
To kill him, he would stop at nothing. But in the end, he had been following his arrangements all along, step by step fulfilling his ambitions.
This pain, this feeling of helplessness, was beyond description.
"Why... why did you do all this... why?" Fen Juechen's entire spiritual world was on the verge of collapse. His voice came out hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing.
"Heh," Xuanyuan Wentian smiled faintly: "Of course, for the thing I have always pursued."
"Twelve hundred years ago, when I inherited the position of Sword Master of the Tian Wei Sword Domain, my cultivation had already reached the peak of the Sovereign Xuan Realm. But after that, no matter how hard I tried, I could never break through the limits of the Sovereign Xuan Realm. It was as if I was locked in an unopenable cage. I once thought that was the limit of human power, that I was already the pinnacle existence among humans. It wasn't until later, when I learned of the existence of the 'Divine Realm of the Gods' from an ancient book, that I realized human power could indeed break through the limits of the Sovereign Xuan Realm and reach the legendary 'Divine Path'. So, I began to search for every possible opportunity... The Eternal Night Royal Clan's infinitely strange 'Heavenly Sin Divine Sword' was one of those opportunities."
Fen Juechen's eyes were wide open, his voice trembling: "Just to pursue power at a higher level, just for a possible opportunity, you would be so vicious as to destroy an innocent, enormous clan... You actually... actually..."
"What's the problem?" Xuanyuan Wentian spread his hands, looking as if it was only fitting: "The one thing that has never changed in my life is the pursuit of stronger power. For that, I am willing to pay any price, use any means. As long as it allows me to possess stronger power, everything can be my stepping stone. This is also the reason why I, Xuanyuan Wentian, can be where I am today!"
"A thousand years ago, Ye Mufeng's suddenly surging power filled me with boundless joy, because I clearly saw power that surpassed the limits of the Sovereign Xuan Realm, I clearly saw the opportunity! For that, I spent an entire thousand years putting all my effort into it. Nineteen days ago, I witnessed the power of that red-clad demoness... The power I once thought had reached its peak, that could make me undefeated under heaven, was nothing but garbage before her. Do you know what that felt like? Fear... Trembling... Humiliation... And even more, desire and excitement! Because Ye Mufeng's power was still far from the limit; there was an even higher level of power waiting for me... The power that others can possess, there is no reason why I, Xuanyuan Wentian, cannot possess it!!"
"And today, I take the first step onto another level!"
Xuanyuan Wentian's obsession with the pursuit of the profound path was something everyone in the Four Sacred Grounds knew.
But no one knew that his obsession was so utterly extreme.