Chapter 258: New World, New Me, Old Habits

"Well, this is just absurd, at this point!" Han Xuhan exclaimed as his consciousness reached the depths of his mind where his dao tower used to exist...at least, that's what he was prepared to see- the broken remains of his tower, the intact rooms of his minions, Little Zhe's swimming pool of qi.

However, the scene that greeted him was slightly different.

His consciousness, which had always taken the form of a ball of light inside his dao tower, now had a... humanoid form, mirroring his Fused state in the real world. The only difference was that his real body wasn't a part of this mental image. He was virtually occupying a skeletal fusion of Zhanxian and Tun Shi Tian.

The land he was on was no longer a vast plain, but a small island in the middle of an endless sea. Far above his head, an enormous mass of pitch-black darkness pulsed like a living monstrosity. Despite the total lack of a source of light, the surroundings appeared well-lit, letting him get a clear view of the horizon in all four directions.

The seawater was abnormal as well, constantly shimmering, transitioning to different colors, forming large, chaotic waves without any visible influence.

The island didn't seem stable. Surges of water were constantly crashing into it, and each time, the island shook, bobbing up and down like a lightweight ship.

At the center of the island, two familiar buildings could be seen from a distance, alongside the broken remains of a third one in the middle. Han Xuhan controlled his new body to stagger forward, trying to get used to the odd sense of imbalance.

The impostor Xuhan, dressed in a neat black suit, was sitting between the two buildings, at the edge of the swimming pool which belonged to Hai Yin Zhe.

He didn't look so sure of himself as before. Seeing Han Xuhan in the new fused body, his gaze was filled with confusion.

"I have all of your memories... But even I didn't think you'd attempt that, man."

Han Xuhan spread his bony arms wide in exasperation. "What did you think was gonna happen, you idiot? I've had enough of being forced to accommodate random powerhouses and their absurd wishes. I would attempt anything at that point."

"You know," The impostor said, "You're the first person I've met to call his mental demon an idiot."

"....So that's what you are!" Han Xuhan exclaimed. "Why didn't you say so earlier, my man? We could've avoided a whole lot of unnecessary drama and come to a reasonable settlement by negotiation! You are, after all, another part of me, right?"

The mental demon gazed at him with such distaste that Han Xuhan recalled that time when he had asked a bald senior disciple why he didn't cultivate a hair-growing technique. That senior had given him this disdainful look as well. It was too familiar, and too humiliating to forget.

"Do you even know what mental demons are, kid?" the impostor said.

Han Xuhan scratched his head, trying to recall the vague information he had gotten from the sect's archives. Information about mental demons wasn't too rare, but some of the associated topics were strictly kept out of the hands of ordinary disciples. After his terrible experience in the Holy Land of Laws, Han Xuhan had spent quite some time and money to gain a solid understanding of the concept.

"Yeah, aren't you people a bundle of derivative, deviant aspects of a cultivator's personality that feed on negative emotions such as guilt, trauma, anger, greed, and lust to grow into a secondary persona powerful enough to influence the cultivator's dao heart, spiritual body, and ultimate growth? The cultivators who are susceptible to being taken over by their mental demons are called demented cultivators... And when the mental demon grows powerful enough to completely eradicate his original self, and step onto a deviant path of his own using the cultivator's body, it's called a demonic cultivator."

He ended his explanation expecting a look of surprise from the mental demon. But all he got was an even more scathing look. In fact, the demon jumped to his feet and spat on the ground in anger.

"Fucking illiterate retards! Who even taught you that shit?! We, the glorious race of demons are fragments of your personalities?"

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Calm down, buddy!" Han Xuhan jumped back upon seeing the raging, twisted countenance of his own face.

The demon looked ready to throw punches, but at the last moment, his rationality took over and he slumped back to the edge of the swimming pool.

"Those Celestials weren't bragging when they said they'd erase our legacy, huh?" he said, not really expecting an answer.

Sensing a very interesting tale, Han Xuhan scooted closer.

"You know, it would be pretty convenient for both of us if you could just explain the whole thing instead of brooding here and speaking in rhetoric. If my knowledge of your race is inaccurate, what's the correct version?"

It took the impostor forever to break the silence following his nudge.

"...Demons are an old race, much older than humans in their current form, from what I've seen so far after regaining my sentience. In fact, we don't even belong to this macrocosm of humans. Our origin lies in a different Totality that overlaps with your macrocosm. The overlapping makes it easy for us to enter and leave your spiritual world with ease. When you human cultivators begin to experience spiritual disturbances caused by negative emotions, an equivalent of this corruption is born in our Totality, which is almost akin to what you'd call a gateway to another world. Needless to say, we enjoy not only feeding on your rotten spirit, but also the source of such corruption. Demons even compete to earn the right to enter the gateway created by your spiritual corruption if the quality of the cultivator's spirit is high enough."

"Fucking hell..." Han Xuhan muttered as a whole new world...no, a whole new macrocosm opened up to him.

"Think of those transmigrators and reincarnators that you used to read fictions about in the memories of your past life. We, the demons, are quite alike those protagonists. We find gateways to a new world and enter them, finding ourselves inside human bodies in all sorts of tense circumstances."

"....Ah shit, I forgot you've seen those memories of mine as well," Han Xuhan said, feeling a sense of discomfort. He recalled that time the senior possessing his dao tower had used English to communicate with him. Although he had never really brought that matter up with him, Han Xuhan couldn't help but feel curious about their placid attitude towards planet Earth. So he ended up asking this guy, "If you've seen what planet Earth looks like, do you think it's possible for me to return there? Could that planet possibly exist in this macrocosm?"

"Why not? It's just a planet without real cultivators. Probably in one of those barren regions of this macrocosm where even Celestials don't bother to visit."

"...I see. Let's get back to the topic at hand. What were you saying about regaining sentience? Could you elaborate on that?" Han Xuhan said, throwing a curveball.

"Our existence in our home Totality is quite different from our existence in your spiritual world. The closest analogy I can think of is the concept of the life cycle of a virus you learned on Earth. We change and remodel ourselves after you once we go through the gateway and arrive inside your spiritual world. Look, I am virtually a perfect copy of your own self. In a way, it can be called a rebirth, and our new sense of existence an achievement of sentience and human consciousness. If I took over your body and soul fully, there would be no way to separate me from another human being."

"You sly dog!" Han Xuhan exclaimed. "Since when were you a perfect copy of me? You just have my appearance. You're not even as smart as I am, heh!"

The demon sent him a blank stare. "Not as smart as you? How did you decide that, buddy?"

"Because, if I was in your position," Han Xuhan said, pointing a bony finger at the impostor, "I wouldn't have confessed anything substantial at all! I would've spun a simple story with some twists to make my host think he's learning something new and valuable, all the while laying a trap for him that I can use later, hahaha! You're not doing that, are you?"

"...." The demon's face turned a bit pale for some reason. "Ye-yeah, I guess I'm indeed not as smart as you are."

Han Xuhan began to laugh even more raucously. The demon might have his memories, but it didn't seem like it had managed to copy his entire personality and modus operandi. Such a juvenile entrapment of arguments had cornered it, tsk~

"You're actually an idiot. The word 'smart' shouldn't even be used near your name, right?"

"...."

It felt a bit odd to see his own face staring back at him with such loathing and anger.

"Speaking of that, what's your real name, anyway?" he asked.

The demon answered with a wooden expression, "Demons don't have names like humans."

"Want me to give you one before my master finds a way to kill you?"

This time, it was the demon's turn to begin laughing.

"Nice try, sucker. Why do you keep forgetting that I know everything you do? Kong Ye has been administering the mind-killer poison to us. It'll harm both of us if he exceeds the limits of its usage. You're only in control right now because I've given up on fighting for it. I can restart the fight any moment and take over!"

Han Xuhan nodded in agreement. "You're absolutely right. That's why it is best we don't rest until you've been erased entirely from this macrosm. Since you have my memories, you should know how resourceful Kong Ye is...and he's not even the fattest golden thigh on my list."

A long moment of tense silence passed between them, neither willing to back down or start something new. Finally, it was the demon who broke it, knowing he was on the backfoot here.

"How about a truce?"

"A real truce can only be possible between two parties equal in power. You know everything about me, but I know nothing about who you are and what your purpose is, let alone the extent of your abilities and cultivation path. If you were in my position, would you feel safe with a truce?" Han Xuhan replied with an ease that came with the experience of being possessed by foreign entities.

"I can't explain-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Han Xuhan yelled at his face. "This isn't a negotiation, dumbass. I'm done dealing with you lying bastards. I'll live worry-free or see which one of us gets killed by the methods my master finds to erase you."