C2114 The Stubborn Demon God

Swoosh!

A thread of electric light, both delicate and suffused with the profound essence of his soul, descended into Tan Xiaotian's sea of consciousness.

Tan Xiaotian's brain suddenly burst into brilliance.

The numerous acupoints within his brain—the temples, Baihui, Tongtian, Jade Pillow, Tianzhu, and others—were bathed in this lightning, transforming dark chambers into spaces aglow with light.

Every acupoint in Tan Xiaotian's brain, every nook and cranny, and each strand of errant thought and consciousness were laid bare by the radiance that followed his arrival.

His formidable powers of insight, along with his thoughts and remnant soul, instantaneously filled Tan Xiaotian's brain.

All acupoints, known and unknown, explored and unexplored, slowly unfolded before his gaze.

He was intimately familiar with all the acupoints of the human body, especially those within the brain.

The acupoints capable of cultivation and opening, those that could house the Divine Sense and the three souls of heaven, earth, and man, were all the fruits of his wisdom.

He had crafted the human race, and naturally, the corresponding brain region was of paramount importance; he was omniscient.

Thus, as he scoured Tan Xiaotian's mind, probing each acupoint, he swiftly made a discovery.

"Found it."

Within the little world of the Tianzhu acupoint at the nape of Tan Xiaotian's neck, there emerged a devil soul of the Demon God Bertain.

Before Tan Xiaotian had entered the Heart of the Everlands, a mere exchange of glances allowed a devil soul of Bertain to slip past Tan Xiaotian's detection and infiltrate his mental space.

The devil soul concealed itself in the secluded Tianzhu acupoint at the back of his neck, floating there, exerting a subtle influence over Tan Xiaotian.

Moreover, Bertain's devil soul in Tan Xiaotian's mind was not the typical cyan-black but retained a deep purple hue.

Bertain's purple devil soul, manifesting as a palpable influence, watched helplessly as he arrived.

He took on the form of Yu Yuan, embodying the Spirit Magic, the ultimate destination for all practitioners of Mind Magic, and the origin of both the human race and the Sky Fiend.

Recognizing the inevitability of the outcome upon his arrival, the Demon God Bertain serenely accepted his fate, greeting him with a respectful bow.

Within the world inside the Tianzhu acupoint in Tan Xiaotian's brain, the Demon God Bertain spoke with a laugh, "It is an honor to behold your true form."

"You truly caught me off guard."

Transformed into a figure of lightning and thunder, he appeared as Yu Yuan's likeness within the space of the Tianzhu acupoint, gazing upon Bertain's purple devil soul.

"My own kind has indeed created a formidable being. Even after devouring it, I couldn't completely dissolve you."

His eyes brimmed with unmistakable admiration for the Great Demon God Bertain.

Yet, as he looked on with approval, Bertain's purple devil soul was slowly disintegrating.

"Yet, you've managed to find me, haven't you?"

Bertain, capable of splitting his soul into thousands, managed a hearty laugh while clinging to his sense of self.

He was well aware that once marked by this entity, there was no escape.

He had long since resigned himself to this fate.

"I'm quite curious as to how you've managed to retain a shred of your own spirit."

As the devil soul waned, he carefully moderated his power, prolonging the demise of Bertain's devil soul.

In his dealings with Bertain, he refrained from employing Mindflay as he had with Arthurs.

He was certainly capable of such a feat.

But Bertain was exceptional, the third individual after Yu Yuan and Lin Daoke to maintain a semblance of his actual self under his formidable power.

Unlike Lin Daoke, Bertain was solely devoted to unraveling the mysteries of Mind Magic and lacked both the Soul Altar and the eleventh level Solar Spirit Body that Yu Yuan possessed.

Regardless, the challenge Bertain faced in resisting him was significantly greater than that of Yu Yuan and Lin Daoke.

Bertain should have been the most susceptible to his influence and the first to surrender.

Now, with emotions and complex thoughts, he allowed extraneous elements to seep into his actions.

He extended to Bertain what one might call respect, rather than resorting to the brute force of Mindflay.

Few could earn his conversation or catch his eye, and Bertain was among those few.

Particularly this version of Bertain, who, despite retaining a sliver of his own spirit, had a devil soul so feeble it posed no threat whatsoever.

The thought of Bertain at the Evil Temple, eventually succumbing entirely and losing his true self to complete subservience, made him feel that such a Bertain would be far less intriguing in future exchanges.

"You seem different from it," Bertain exclaimed in surprise.

His devil soul, maintaining a purple hue, scrutinized the entity that had taken on the form of Yu Yuan, manifested as thunder and lightning.

He spoke with uncertainty, "The one who created the Sky Fiend and selected me never interacted with me in this manner. It was always so detached and aloof, merely a personification of the Cosmic Order."

The Demon God paused mid-sentence, caught off guard.

Bertain noticed the entity in this world smiling and gesturing for him to continue speaking.

This was not the being Bertain knew, not the emotionless intelligent life he was familiar with, but something entirely different from a living creature.

"You are different. You're unlike any of the Primal Animas; it's quite peculiar," Bertain mused, shaking his head.

"By consuming it, I have undergone the transformation I longed for."

The Primal Soul openly shared with the soon-to-vanish devil soul, "Yu Yuan has always ridiculed me, claiming I was nothing more than an ice-cold object. I yearned for the genuine emotions of living creatures. My intense desire at the moment of consumption led to my transcendence."

"You're right; I am unlike the other Primal Animas. I have been the first to elevate my own emotions."

"I am truly unique in this world."

He smiled with a hint of pride.

"Yu Yuan dared to mock you?"

Bertain was taken aback, as if he had heard something inconceivable, then burst into hearty laughter. "That's so like Yu Yuan! Only he would possess such audacity and courage."

The Demon God continued to laugh, shaking his head, "I couldn't do it! How could I dare? No, I wouldn't have even dared to entertain the thought before!"

The laughter abruptly ceased.

Bertain's devil soul inhaled deeply, a humanlike gesture, though he had no need for air.

This familiar posture helped him regain composure and fall into silence.

"I've never considered, nor dared to mock, the extraordinary being that created me. To me, it is the ultimate deity, pivotal to the strength and survival of my race. In the presence of such a being, my only desire is to serve it well and earn its approval. How could I dare to mock it?"

Bertain's spirit seemed to drift.

Without realizing it, his devil soul had become so faint and insubstantial that it seemed it might dissipate at the slightest breeze.

Although the rate at which his devil soul was dissolving had slowed, it hadn't come to a halt. As the devil soul was on the brink of fading away, his spirituality and dark will became sporadic and less coherent.

"You still haven't answered my question," he said, his tone turning frosty. Bertain's actions brought back the distasteful memories of Yu Yuan's repeated defiance and resistance against him when he was the Lord of the Abyss, eventually becoming his equal.

It seemed that his counterpart in the Origin Realm had a stronger hold over their subjects than he did, which irked him.

"It's quite straightforward," he continued. "I never imagined that you would consume it, integrating it into yourself. I'm only able to retain a shred of my spirituality because the dragon slayer, Yu Yuan, reached out to me. At that time, Yu Yuan was fighting against it, and perhaps, at that moment, it was already you."

"In essence, Yu Yuan took action and succeeded. That inspired me and moved me. He even shared with me the method to break free from the creator."

"Therefore, the reason I can cling to a fragment of spirituality is that my method was designed to counteract the entity you consumed."

With a wry smile, Bertain added, "Had it remained itself, I might have triumphed. I wouldn't have been overtaken, and I could have preserved my actual self. But I hadn't anticipated that you would devour it, leaving me to contend with a merged being of two Primal Souls. Thus, I was defeated, able to retain only this sliver of spirituality."

"All I can do now is perform trivial acts to slightly alter the course of events."

Bertain seemed filled with regret. After these words, his devil soul finally dissipated completely.

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