"Alright, look, just like how you're not comfortable with me knowing everything about you, I'm not going to willingly share everything about me with you either. You said it yourself. In my shoes, you would've kept lying until your host cultivator was convinced somehow. So even if I come clean, you wouldn't believe half of it anyway."

Han Xuhan couldn't find a way to refute that logic. Seeing his silence, the demon wasted no time in taking the opportunity to push his narrative further.

"But since you seem to care a lot about a fair status quo, I'll give you some real facts. I'm not actually a mental demon who was summoned to this world through YOUR spiritual corruption. Although your own spiritual flaws have accumulated enough to reach the dangerous zone for cultivators, it's nowhere near enough to summon a mental demon like me. So you don't have to worry about me fully replacing your soul, because we can only do that to our original host."

"Nice try," Han Xuhan said. "Did you for a moment honestly think that any attempt by you to convince me to think less of the quantum of danger you pose to me is going to work?"

The demon looked stumped again.

"Damn, why do you have to nitpick so much, man?"

"Because your behavior so far has been quite fitting for a pathological liar...No, pathological liars lie without clear motives, whereas you have one that we both know," Han Xuhan walked a step closer and towered over the identical copy of his own body.

"You should be aware that I'm very, very frustrated right now. This is me in my most reckless, irrational position. Don't make me resort to destructive solutions. I'm gonna reincarnate anyway. Not sure the same applies to you... Demons."

The demon put a palm on his mouth mockingly.

"Yaawn~ was that an attempt to intimidate me? Try harder, loser."

"...."

It was the first time Han Xuhan had met someone capable of shameless shit-talking of the same tier as his.

"Also, do you really think you're gonna reincarnate? Kekekek."

Seeing the demon's ugly laugh, alarm bells went off in Xuhan's mind.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothin, nothing! That's a joke. Don't get so worked up over it! I definitely do not possess any esoteric knowledge about how the afterlife in this macrocosm works under the current heavenly authority. Absolutely none!"

It finally dawned on Han Xuhan that he had been a cultivator for just 7 months. He knew very little about the world of cultivation. The friends and enemies he had met throughout the journey didn't represent the entirety of the cultivation world. In short, he was still a frog in a well... And this demon was more than capable of dismantling him even in fields that he was good at. He wouldn't benefit from trying to reason with this creature, and neither did he have a chance at scamming him.

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With just one vague statement, the demon had made him wary of choosing mutual destruction as a solution to the impasse they were in right now. If he couldn't really reincarnate...

No, no, no. He was almost 99% certain that the demon had said that to disarm him of the only weapon he had. But that damned 1% possibility...

The demon looked like he was enjoying the mental conflict Han Xuhan was going through. He took the initiative to put a stop to it after a brief span of tense silence.

"Buddy, let me show you my goodwill. How about you just ask me some simple questions that you deem important to our current coexistence? I'll answer them if I can. That way, you can decide whether to take your chances at 'rebirth' or not, yeah?"

Taking an unnecessary, deep breath, Han Xuhan said, "You said you weren't actually summoned by my spiritual corruption. Assuming that it's true, how did you appear here, then?"

The demon nodded approvingly.

"I entered your dao tower when you were connected to Fang Xie's spiritual world. I think you can guess the rest from that."

In a flash, Han Xuhan recalled the information about Fang Xie suffering from backlashes during his heavenly tribulation. The report he had gathered on him also stated that Fang Xie was borderline demented due to being afflicted by mental demons....

"You're Fang Xie's mental demon?!" Han Xuhan screeched, half in horror, half in wonder.

The demon cocked his head, as if unsure how to answer the question.

"I was inside Fang Xie's spiritual world, yeah. But to call me HIS mental demon would be a bit of a stretch. I would've resembled him if I was."

"Then what exactly are you?"

"Mm, that part is a secret. Do you remember that infohazard theory you learned on Earth? Need I elaborate? Some information is better left unknown."

Han Xuhan didn't push it, moving on to a different question.

"If you're not my mental demon, what business do you have with me? Why did you come over from Fang Xie's spiritual world?"

The demon looked somewhat incensed as Han Xuhan addressed that issue in particular.

"You think it was voluntary?! Hell, no! Why the fuck would I want to enter the body of a trash like you?"

"....Who forced you, then?"

"That Master Mo, the guy who was assisting Fang Xie inside the cabin. He grabbed me when you two were reversing the Body Possession formation. He was the one who forced me to enter your spiritual world."

Han Xuhan cast a look at the sky, roaring out his frustrations.

"Can you fucking trust a single person in the world of cultivation?! Why is everybody I meet such an insidious bastard?!"

The infinite black mass pulsing in the sky had no answers for him. He signed and looked down.

"It's my fault, to be honest. Why did I even trust a random powerhouse who was clearly working for my enemy?"

"Yeah, not a great choice," the demon added. "But to your credit, you chose the optimal option given the situation at that time. That hidden cultivator was so powerful that he could've erased your mind and make a tool out of your body if he wanted to."

"Fuck it," Xuhan said, cursing for the umpteenth time. "What's done is done. So you're a demon from Fang Xie's spiritual world who was forced to enter my spiritual world...any idea why? Why did you try to take over my body if you wanted nothing to do with me?"

The demon laughed wryly. "Think about it, retard. Master Mo was clearly on Fang Xie's side, helping him in his mission. Why else would he want to insert a mental demon in your spiritual world if not to silence you?"

Han Xuhan's thoughts began to race. It wasn't that difficult to come up with other possible hypotheses either. All schemes in the world were directed towards results, specific, beneficial results. Fang Xie's prime purpose in attending this tournament was to gather a team of mind-controlled talents, each from a different, powerful sect. If he supposed the existence of mental demons that could be spread like diseases into other cultivators like him...

In that case, only one pivotal question remained to be answered. And Han Xuhan knew who could answer it. Making a mental note to himself, Han Xuhan focused on the demon once more.

"One last question. Now that you've understood that neither my master, nor I would allow you to control my body, regardless of the price to be paid, what do you intend to do?"

The demon spread his hands in a struggling motion.

"I don't know, man. From my perspective, it's a stalemate. That's why I gave up trying to take over. And it's not like I can just leave. Of course, you're not gonna believe me if I say I won't attempt to take over the moment your master goes out of sight."

"You're correct, I won't." Han Xuhan snorted.

"So how about we agree to a contract, prepared by my master?"

The demon looked at him vigilantly. Han Xuhan said in an assuring tone, "He uses impartial laws to forge the contract terms, remember? You can rest assured about fairness."

"...Alright. But if you want things to be fair, we both need to benefit from this coexistence."

"Ah, benefits. That shouldn't be a problem," Han Xuhan affirmed.