Yin Hui's body was sweating vigorously throughout the process of body reformation. Body reformation or body reconstruction required the original body to slowly be refined cell by cell, this way the soul could memorize the features of the original and retain its form for the new body. Even for cultivators, this was an extremely painful process, especially when done without any medicinal pills or healing formations.
Furthermore, the process for turning one's body into a fiend was extra challenging, as it required the conversion of normal qi to demonic qi to craft the body.
Demonic qi itself was highly unstable, eroding and consuming all things that weren't related to it. This was what made the fiend transformation process risky, as there was a chance the demonic energy could get out of control and devour the body mid-way.
Despite initially being irritated that he had to lend Yin Tou his body a second time, Yin Hui knew he had no other choice. While Yin Tou was a mischievous trickster of many schemes, he looked completely serious during the reformation process. He had split his spirit into two halves, one half was possessing Yin Hui's body, while the other was connected to the statue providing external help. Not a single movement was wasted as he coordinated with his second half, one side holding back the demonic qi from devouring Yin Hui's body, and the other progressing the reformation.
The half of Yin Tou's spirit not merged with Yin Hui's body looked very tired, appearing more and more transparent as if he were fading. Splitting his soul and having them perform different tasks, while conducting a very risky body reformation with no materials was extremely taxing on him. If he had at least one more seal unlocked, he could've had the strength to set up special formations to stabilize the process. Unfortunately he didn't, so Yin Tou had to remain extra vigilant as the slightest mistake could have dire consequences. On top of all this, because Yin Tou was currently the main soul controlling Yin Hui's body, he was the one feeling all the pain that came with the refinement.
Yin Hui was silent, not wanting to disrupt Yin Tou's concentration. As the procedure went along, Yin Hui actually started to feel bad for his ancestor. Watching Yin Tou exert himself so much to reconstruct his body, while also resisting the pain of the refinement made his heart ache a bit. Although Yin Tou had lied to him many times and even cheated him out of his body, he seemed to be genuinely trying his best to help Yin Hui reconstruct his body.
Time moved slowly in the tablet’s dimension, what seemed like hours inside was actually only minutes in the outside world.
After about a day and a half of intense concentration, the Yin Tou not possessing Yin Hui twitched his hands slightly from the strain. As soon as he did, the half-transmuted demonic qi he was converting started spiraling out of control. A significant portion escaped and took the shape of several black ghosts that converged upon Yin Hui's body, attempting to devour it.
"Sh*t, kid! You have to maintain the demonic qi inside your body yourself! I need to put more energy into my clone so it can reassert control!" Yin Tou shouted frantically.
"How do I do that?" Yin Hui asked through his thoughts. Because Yin Tou was not suppressing his soul like he did in the first possession, Yin Hui could communicate with him using his mind.
"Maintain a balance of emotions! Demonic qi interacts with your body based on negative emotions, so as long as you keep a proper balance you can prevent it from devouring you!"
Yin Tou quickly left Yin Hui's body and merged his two halves. He weaved a few hand signs and a strong pressure filled the dimension. The incomplete demonic qi began to converge back towards Yin Tou. He waved his hands and several seals were applied, preventing it from escaping again.
"Alright kid! Everything's back under control! I'll separate my soul again and--- what?"
When Yin Tou turned his attention back to Yin Hui his jaw fell. Yin Hui was sitting in a state of complete tranquility, demonic qi swirling around him in a smooth, disciplined manner. The black ghosts initially attempting to devour him were now arranged in a uniform circle around Yin Hui, chanting some sort of spell that caused him to emit a black aura. Not only were the ghosts and true demonic qi completely tame, they were also progressing the refinement process on their own!
Yin Tou let out a hearty laugh.
"I'm starting to like this Yin Hui kid! Reminds me of myself... I think. What was I like again?"
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Seeing Yin Hui was alright, Yin Tou sat down, allowing the exhaustion he was suppressing for so long set in. He watched eagerly as the ghosts and demonic qi surrounding Yin Hui slowly reformed his body to that of a fiend.
Yin Hui was calm as he felt the demonic qi course through his entire being. He was no stranger to controlling his emotions and effortlessly subdued the demonic qi and ghosts when Yin Tou left. At the same time, Yin Hui also found out that with his mastery over his emotions, he could take it a step further and command the qi as well. Remembering the way Yin Tou was directing the qi for the body reformation, Yin Hui commanded the demonic qi to do the same. The ghosts were much harder to control, but eventually they submitted and without instruction, created a formation that stabilized the refinement.
After a couple hours, the demonic qi stabilized and dissipated along with ghosts. Yin Hui stood up. His body was dyed in black and his facial features were completely hidden. A few minutes later, cracks began to appear and light, flesh colored skin peeked out from underneath. The black shell surrounding his body shattered and Yin Hui's body was now fully visible. His appearance was nearly identical to what he looked like before the reconstruction, retaining his handsome features. However, his black hair had grown to the center of his back and his irises turned from black to a deep dark purple.
Yin Hui walked up to Yin Tou's weak spirit for an evaluation. Yin Tou examined Yin Hui's body and nodded in approval. It was a perfect reconstruction. Aside from the appearance, there were no traces of the original body left, including the curse placed by the heaven's. A demonic aura filled the spatial domain, creating a cold and dreadful atmosphere. After the reformation, the rich spiritual energy that permeated from the dimension decreased by almost 20%, allowing the demonic aura to be further emphasized.
"That was a lot of work, but of course since it was me the results were perfect. I must admit that you surprised this old man when you controlled that demonic qi. If you didn't, the process would've taken another 2 days. Maybe your not so useless after all! Now there's only one thing left to do to fulfill my end of the deal, and that's to get you your first soul." Yin Tou said weakly. He slowly raised his finger towards the void and a portal to the outside opened up once more.
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Back at the shrine, the sound of clashing metal could be heard as Tang Li and Tang Jiao traded blows. Tang Jiao was completely unharmed, his robes in perfect condition as he swung his sword with grace and precision. In contrast, Tang Li looked quite pitiful. He had a bright red cut on his face and his robes had various tears and holes in them.
"I believe we're at 30 moves now, good job! Last time you reached 30, you were on the ground and covered in blood! At least this time your still on your feet!" Tang Jiao laughed.
Tang Li was exhausted, but didn't show it. He knew his brother liked to gloat a lot, if he could catch him off guard during one of his moments it would allow him to deliver a decisive blow. He watched as Tang Jiao's sword lowered just a tiny fraction out of position and charged out, channeling all his spiritual energy into his legs.
"I suppose the only way you could possibly damage me is if my guard is down. However---" Tang Jiao cut his sentence off when he saw Tang Li rushing towards him with his sword, aiming a horizontal strike towards his center.
"Slicing Wind Strike!" Tang Li shouted. The Slicing Wind Strike was a martial skill that involved swords. The user would coat their blade with a thin layer of spiritual qi which contained the element of wind. The layer of wind would repel all forms of air resistance on the blade, allowing the user to multiply the speed of their swing as if they were literally slicing through the wind.
Knowing he had no time to build up momentum for a rush of his own, Tang Jiao quickly moved into a defensive stance. He held his sword tightly with both hands.
"Damn it! There's no time for me to counter with my own martial skill."
When Tang Jiao was within range, Tang Li unleashed a slash so fast that mortals would say it was invisible. Tang Jiao slashed forward as well, but it was obvious the speed of his attack paled in comparison to the Slicing Wind Strike. Both of them paused after the clash, waiting to see who was the true victor of that decisive confrontation.
Putt~
Tang Li dropped a knee on the ground, grasping the side of his stomach with one hand while coughing out blood.
"You shameless bastard..." Tang Li croaked.
Tang Jiao stood up, flourishing his sword to get rid of the blood staining its edge. An ethereal armored torso had overlapped over his own torso, protecting him from Tang Li's attack.
"Too bad little brother. I must admit your timing was impeccable. If you were in the Spirit Manifestation realm and had your ethereal spirit unleash that attack, I might have been seriously injured."
Tang Jiao put his boot on top of Tang Li's arched back with an expression of triumph. He was about to say something when he heard a scream come from behind.
It was Tao Shou. A portal had opened up in the Yin Clan tablet and an attraction force was pulling him inside.
"Young master Tang Jiao save me!" Tao Shou screamed frantically, flailing as he flew into the portal.
Running towards the tablet, Tang Jiao extended his arm and an attraction force of his own began to pull Tao Shou out of the portal. Unfortunately, right as he did, the attraction force of the portal instantly tripled in retaliation, sucking Tao Shou inside. By the time, Tang Jiao reached the tablet the portal had already closed.
Tang Jiao cursed under his breath. He wasn't angry because he failed to saved Tao Shou, but because he didn't make it in time to venture into the portal himself.