Chapter 260: Crippled...Or Not

Crimson Snow Sect, Heavenly Hailstorm Mountain Peak.

On the front yard of a disciple's hut, the master of the peak, Kong Ye, was seated on a recliner, toying with a blood-streaked glass syringe in his hands.

Behind him, three disciples of his were sitting on the ground, their faces dazed like a sleep-deprived laborer.

The qi in the air was still seething from the impact of the recently extinguished talisman array. It contributed to the sensory assault one would encounter upon setting foot near this mountain peak at that moment.

Both master and his disciples were fully focused on one subject– the unconscious body of the first disciple of Heavenly Hailstorm Mountain. He had been laid in a reclined position, leaning on the porch of the house. 

Of course, someone who hadn't been present throughout the entire incident would not recognize that body. The first disciple, Han Xuhan, looked much different than before.

His outstretched arms and the pair of legs spread wide beneath the body were unnaturally long, just bordering the existence of long-limbed humanoid monsters in folk tales. Sharp bone spurs mirroring talons protruded from his fingers, elbows, shoulders, toes, and heels. Although most of them were less than a finger's height, the damage they could cause was substantial for any novice cultivator.

An external, secondary ribcage shrouded his torso intimately. Ordinary punches, kicks, and weapon strikes would not be able to get past its protection. 

Han Xuhan's face was also hidden behind a bone visor that had taken on the outline of an owl's skull. Even a skilled archer might not be able to hit the remaining exposed parts of his face from a distance. 

There was a more prominent feature on the redesigned body of the first disciple- a tail made of the spinal bones of a human skeleton, just over two feet in length. Kong Ye had little doubt that if the tail could be controlled at will, Han Xuhan would be incredibly difficult to face in close combat. His disciple Xuhan was virtually a living, breathing, armory at this point, integrating defense, offense, and spiritual power all in one body.

More importantly, this was merely the changes in his appearance. The real, genuinely terrifying changes were visible only to Kong Ye.

[ Disciple No. 1: Han Xuhan ]

[ Race: Fused Hybrid ]

[ Ancestry: Endemic to CT-L4-G36-SS11-P8, #$#£¥®¥???.... Security protocols may be breached if further data is traced ]

[ Special Physique: Fusion Seed (Forbidden) ]

[ Self Cultivation: Core Liberation (minor realm) ]

[ Fused Cultivation: 2nd Layer Of Physique Transformation Realm ]

[ Dao Foundation Quality: Unable To Determine as it has just been Expelled From Heavenly Domain ]

[ Dao Heart: ??? ] (fused dao heart is too chaotic for grading) 

[ Dao Heart Title : ??? (stat no longer detectable) ]

[ Special Affinity: Light (C+), Disorder (C) ] (fused)

[ Comprehension: A- ] (fused) 

[ Qi Quality: B- ] (fused)

[ Elemental Affinity: Air (B-) ] (fused)

[ Existent issues that the host may address: ]

[ 1. Through repeated tests, it has been ascertained that the fused form of disciple Han Xuhan is part-demon. Although his demonic nature has been suppressed by the intake of mental capacity-impairing medicine and the combined willpower of disciple Xuhan and his minions, there is no doubt that the demon still exists, hiding and biding his time. Please find a way to suppress or expel it permanently, or kill your disciple. The system shall treat it as mercy-killing and not hold the host accountable. ]

"...." Kong Ye rubbed his face in worry. His system had suddenly become rather violent since discovering that Han Xuhan had been possessed by a demon. It wasn't odd for orthodox cultivators from upper realms to hate demons of any kind, but why was this system getting so worked up over the discovery? Where did this overwhelming prejudice come from?

Kong Ye's past suspicion that this system was a gift from someone not of the current Celestial court kept growing. The current court didn't have any heavy altercations with the demons, to his knowledge. But if the creator of this system was a celestial or quasi-celestial from past millennia... 

His breathing quickened as visions of a horrifying past and possible future overlapped in his mind.

[ 2. Due to unknown circumstances, disciple Han Xuhan's dao tower has been expelled from the Heavenly Domain. Please investigate why, and if possible, find a way to restore it. ]

[ 3. Due to unknown circumstances, disciple Xuhan's own cultivation level exhibited a sharp drop to zero just before his demonic nature took over. The system was unable to detect this change until the very end. Investigate why and how it happened, and whether he has been crippled beyond recovery in the process. ]

Kong Ye ignored the rest of the smaller issues and was contemplating how to solve the top 3 problems on the list when Han Xuhan's tail moved.

From behind, all three disciples gasped in amazement and concern as the boy let out a hoarse groan. Hai Yin Zhe, the third minion, who had been excluded from the fusion, hissed and tried to spring forward to him, only to be captured by a disgruntled Kong Ye.

A second later, Han Xuhan began to rapidly blink, cranking his neck around to scan his surroundings.

"Welcome back, disciple Xuhan." 

His greeting seemed to stabilize the boy's mind. Gingerly, he dragged his body up on the porch and rose to a sitting position. 

"Master," he croaked in a voice that Kong Ye found both familiar and unfamiliar. It seemed that fusing with Zhanxian and Tun Shi Tian had affected his voice as well. His speech sounded a little like all three of them.

"This one is grateful for your assistance. I was ready to give up for a moment there."

Feeling mild discomfort at his strange speech pattern, Kong Ye nodded. 

"That was my duty as your teacher. Now, what happened afterward inside your spiritual world? And how did you even get possessed by a demon in the first place?"

Han Xuhan's gaze fell on his three martial siblings for a moment before he replied in a measured tone.

"I had a nasty encounter with a powerful cultivator. I was prepared for this encounter, and laid a trap for him where I could hurt him spiritually. But while doing so, I ended up being exposed to his spiritual world, and from what I've gathered so far, the mental demon managed to slip inside my spiritual world at that time."

At this point of the explanation, Kong Ye's system began to blare alarms once more.

[ Alert! The disciple's demonic nature has been threatening to overtake his willpower again! ]

Han Xuhan's countenance revealed a trace of struggle as well. Through gritted teeth, he said, "It seems that the demon doesn't like being investigated, master."

The empty syringe in Kong Ye's hand began to refill itself from a source unknown to the disciples. The same Mindkiller poison filled it up to the brim once more.

"Disciple Xuhan, what else did you learn from this mental demon?" 

"...That the knowledge we have about demons and demonic cultivators in our sect is mostly wrong. That the celestials had an active role in erasing the existence of demons from our world-"

"Xuhan," Kong Ye said, interrupting his tirade. Gesturing at the sky pointedly, he changed the topic.

"..Let's discuss that some other time. From what I can glean, your cultivation level has dropped to zero. How?"

"The trap I laid for my opponent had its cost. You can't expect a Physique Transformation Realm weakling to defeat a Soul Reformation Realm expert without a substantial sacrifice, can you?"

Kong Ye groaned in frustration. 

"Was it necessary? You couldn't find a less violent, retributive method to deal with this opponent? And who is he even, anyway?"

"If I had a choice, I wouldn't have chosen this method, master. But I admit... I acted a bit recklessly."

Yuen Zhou suddenly coughed, breaking the tense string of sorrow in the air.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but just because your cultivation dropped to zero doesn't mean you can no longer cultivate again, does it? I mean, it's pretty apparent that you can still control qi," she said, gesturing at Xuhan's reformed body.

Kong Ye suddenly felt like punching himself for getting so emotional. How had he overlooked something so obvious?