As Yijin fell to the ground, his mind went blank. It was a while since he had gone so overboard on enemies and especially since he no longer had the original Huanzhi body. His body was fatigued. "Damn, I went a little overboard there. Now I'm stuck in my subconscious for a few hours. Thank God for the weekend." Yijin spoke as he walked through the white void that was his subconscious. "It will probably take a while before I can become conscious again. I guess I'm grateful for this. I can still cultivate in my subconscious like I used to in Isolation Training so long ago."
Yijin sat down and let the mind within his mind go blank. His external appearance was calm, but a war was raging on within his body. Yijin opened his eyes suddenly.
"What the...?" Yijin stood up from his cross-legged position and stared upwards. This plane of reality was no longer a white void. It was the Ancient Murim. Yijin's eyes focused on the path in front of him. His hands shook as he realized where he was. "No! No! No!" He shouted hysterically. His hands came up to his face as he shook his head.
"Not here! Not now!" Yijin screamed. His face showed an expression of extreme fear as a sudden loud bang was heard. "Resolute Thunder. Why do I have to face you again." Yijin looked up from his hands as a figure came into view. A sophisticated robe was draped over the broad shoulders of a tall man with sunken eyes and a foreboding shadow cast over them by his brow. In his left hand, the greatest sword in existence, Resolute Thunder.
Yijin looked at his clothing. It was the black robe he so often wore as Huanzhi in his past life when he was on a contract. In his right hand, was his weapon before he took Resolute Thunder from Jiang Qinshi. He stared at Jiang and held his sword upward. He could not bring forth any memories of the Soul of the Unknown Swordsman.
"This means I have to defeat you with my prior knowledge. Like I did back then." Yijin's voice rang through his own mind, but nothing came out of his mouth. Only the words he had spoken then to Qinshi.
"Jiang Qinshi! Resolute Thunder deserves a better master than you. I'll grant you one thing, that blade looks pretty good with that robe of yours. It'll look better draped in my black sheath." Yijin said loudly to Jiang Qinshi. At this Qinshi laughed. Jiang Qinshi had been the first person that Huanzhi had murdered whilst being hired under contract.
He was also the most difficult opponent that Huanzhi had ever faced outside of Lu Gongfen and Qinluo Zhuo. Yijin stared at Jiang Qinshi and spoke. "You will taste the wrath of my sword."
Qinshi laughed once more, this time hysterically. "You puny little insect," The voice disappeared from in front of him and appeared directly behind Yijin. "do you remember what master told us on the day of leaving Guanzi Sect?" He slammed a knee into Yijin's back which had been imbued with Qi. It sent Yijin flying into a nearby tree.
His chest slammed into it and he fell to the ground breathing heavily and bleeding from the mouth. "How does the pain feel so real even though it's my subconscious?" He placed two hands on the ground and attempted to raise himself as Jiang stepped up and placed his boot on Yijin's back. "Do you remember or don't you?..." He stamped his foot on Yijin's back. "I asked you a question, Huanzhi. Answer!"
Yijin felt his mouth contort into a rueful smile. "Of course I do, Jiang Qinshi. 'There will come a day when you both shall meet on the field of battle. When you do, I pray that it is as allies. For once you face each other as enemies, all Hell will break loose. For a more unruly brotherhood I have never seen in all my years." Yijin shouted at the tops of his lungs as he pushed off Jiang Qinshi's foot with all his might. Qinshi leaped backwards as he felt the amount of Qi being emitted from Yijin and prepared himself.
"Huanzhi. I will kill you here and now."
Yijin held his blade upwards in the stance of the Guanzi Sect's style of swordsmanship. It was almost like watching a movie from a character's perspective. Yijin stepped forward and flash stepped behind Qinshi. "Goddamned little shit." Qinshi's foot had already made contact on Yijin's chest by the time Yijin had arrived behind him. Yijin was kicked into the air with force as Qinshi leaped upwards and slashed twice. His blade made deep gashes in Yijins back.
"Huanzhi! Just surrender now. I had heard you had gone to the Dark Factions, but I never chose to believe it until now. Surrender! I came after you since I heard you were contracted against me. Just tell me who hired you and I will let you live."
Yijin laughed maniacally. His hands covered his face as tears streamed down them. The burst of emotion was something that Huanzhi had felt then. "Do you think I wanted this, Qinshi?! You were my brother. It all went to Hell the moment I met that bastard, Hukong. He was the one who sparked the dark qi within me. What should I do now that it has started taking over my body. I can only accept it." Yijin's eyes were somber and melancholic.
His face showed only fear of his past. "I can't give you the name of my contractor. I can only do one thing. Despite you being the only person I could ever call a true brother. I must bring your life to an end, Qinshi."
This was the first time that Huanzhi had let his body go completely to the dark Qi. "Thank you for everything that you taught me, but not everything can be learned. Some things, must be created." Yijin rose from his knees and, bleeding, closed his eyes and dropped his head for a moment. The Qi emitting from him switched from pure Light Qi from the Guanzi Sect's style to something different entirely.
Something evil, deep within his meridians began to slither out like a serpent. His eyes changed color from their regular brown to a shining red shade with slits for pupils as Yijin had done that night in the Sun Martial Academy. His behavior changed as suddenly, his altered voice began to speak.
"So you finally chose to give in, Huanzhi? I must admit, you lasted longer than anyone else has ever been able to. No one, and I mean no one has ever resisted the temptation of our Qi. Now, who is this little Light Faction prick standing in front of you. You said you want me to kill him. I'll do so in the most brutal fashion imaginable."
Huanzhi's voice shrieked and changed between the Dark Qi and himself. "No! Damn it! Why am I doing this?"
"Shut your mouth and accept defeat, Huanzhi. The Dark Qi is the only way that you will survive this fight. Who do you think you are?" The Dark Qi's voice spoke once more.
Huanzhi's voice was silenced and there came an eerie quiet on the path. Qinshi had been so taken aback by the show of emotion and the transition from Light to Dark Qi that he had not been able to attack. Yijin lifted his head frighteningly slowly and at an angle.
"Welcome to Hell."
A sudden burst of Qi that Qinshi had not been able to see burst through Yijin's feet as he appeared behind Qinshi in a heartbeat. Qinshi's eyes darted, but his only reaction was a sloppy twirl as Yijin's sword cut a deep scar into Qinshi's back. "Damn! What is this thing?"
"Well, if you truly wish to know... they call me, Xiangliu." The being inhabiting Huanzhi's body spoke. "Ever since I was killed by the so-called hero, Yu, I have been longing for revenge. Huanzhi is the only one who ever accepted me without his consciousness dying."
"For that reason he is the strongest warrior to have ever lived." The voice concluded.
Yijin had not remembered this part. It was only now that he was able to listen to the Dark Qi's true voice. Qinshi stepped back and started screaming. "Stay back! Stay far away from me demon! The Flooder of Szechuan! Let me go!"
Xiangliu stepped forward in Huanzhi's body. He let Huanzhi's consciousness come forth. "Huanzhi, flood the world with your strength. Become the destroyer you were destined to be." Huanzhi stepped forward on his own accord, his blade in hand dripping with Qinshi's blood. "Kill him and bring forth your new era. The Destruction of these lands!" Yijin watched as his old body stepped forward and approached Qinshi.
Qinshi shouted in fear and began slashing wildly at Huanzhi. Huanzhi blocked every blow with ease. This was the power of the dark Qi within him. The power of the Messenger of Gonggong. His blade suddenly thrusted forward and pierced cleanly through Jiang Qinshi. Jiang Qinshi shouted in pain as he fell backwards, blood staining his adorned robe and oozing from his mouth. He looked up at Huanzhi in fear. With his last breath, he gave Huanzhi a word of advice that should have stuck with him for life.
"Huanzhi." Qinshi coughed once, "Do not let yourself go to this Darkness within you. It will lead to your destruction. Please, I beg of you. The being within you only wishes to use you for its own ends." Qinshi held up his stained, wet, red hand.
Huanzhi stabbed Qinshi's chest mercilessly. "That is perfectly fine by me. I will become the greatest warrior this world has ever seen and I will bring about the destruction of the Murim." Qinshi breathed heavily as blood poured from him. He took a final breath and his hand dropped to one side. Huanzhi picked up Resolute Thunder and walked off, not shedding a tear of remorse for Qinshi.
"Do you like what you see, Huanzhi?" A familiar distorted voice said from behind him. Huanzhi turned and looked back. There was nobody there. "Do you really believe you will see a spirit in your consciousness without my prior permission? Ha, you are more naïve than I thought." Huanzhi's hands shook. He knew who was speaking to him now.
"Xiangliu, flooder of Murim and the great Poison Snake of Gonggong. I acknowledge your presence." Huanzhi said.
"Good." Came the reply, "That's the right way to approach this."
"Great Messenger, I ask you humbly... Why did you choose my vessel as your consciousness's reincarnation once again?" Huanzhi said.
"I cannot control you. I never could completely control you. I never leave my vessel's body until their mind and soul belong solely to me. You have not given in yet."
"So Qinshi was right. I could never trust a viper like you."
Xiangliu's booming laugh resonated through the white void that had returned to Yijin's consciousness. "Are you kidding? You should have never listened to Hukong in the first place. But, I'll give you one word of advice. This time, just give in. I can easily just take over everything and give you what you want. The defeat of Lu Gongfen."
"Yes, I know. Just like last time, in my old body where I died alongside him. I don't trust you anymore, Xiangliu."
"Ha, are we so informal now? Come on now, we barely know each other. Open up your heart to me and I will show you who you can be. Especially now, in this Qi deprived modern world."
"I won't listen to your lies anymore. There will come a day when I will be prepared to defeat you. I will return to my consciousness and exile you from my vessels permanently. But until then, I must still deal with your power coming through every now and again."
"Ah! How you infuriate me like you did last life! You shall not escape me this time. I will kill your consciousness here and now." Said the voice. Suddenly a mist appeared only twenty or so feet before Huanzhi. Nine pairs of red eyes stared at him from beyond the mist as suddenly the mist evaporated and behind it, stood Xiangliu the Serpent. His nine heads all staring at Huanzhi with their eyes and poisonous glares. Huanzhi shouted in fear.
"The monster that Yu the Great defeated then appears before me now."
Huanzhi placed a hand to his side, no Resolute Thunder was there to save him now.
"What's the matter, Huanzhi. No weapon to cling to as I pull you apart limb from limb and poison piece by piece?" The central head had spoken. The rest of the heads laughed as Huanzhi held up his hands in the stance of the Soul of the Unknown Swordsman.
"That sloppy martial arts technique won't get you anywhere. You aren't even half as strong as Yu was when he killed me. I will eat you alive."
Huanzhi stepped forward and flash stepped to Xiangliu, whose slimy serpent body slithered to one side. He was toying with Huanzhi. One touch of Xiangliu's scales and Huanzhi would be dead from the poisonous slime slathered atop it. Huanzhi watched as a fang appeared in one of the head's mouths. Xiangliu spat the fang directly at Huanzhi. Huanzhi leaped upwards as the bone slammed into the ground beneath him.
"Still as spry as ever I can see. But that's not enough to stop me." Xiangliu breathed. Multiple fangs appeared in each mouth as each of the heads spat with force at Huanzhi. There was no way to dodge. The bones flew through the air and were just about to make contact as suddenly, a bang was heard and Yijin awoke with a gasp. "Damn you!" Yijin heard the voice within him scream in fury.
"My realm of consciousness is corrupted, but one day I'll defeat you too." Yijin sat and began to meditate, he was getting closer and closer to his original Qi power.
The voice within him echoed once more. "Your mind and soul will be mine again soon. You can't resist the allure of the Darkness for long."