Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

Lake Island.

It is still evening, and the sunset is about to disappear.

The sky has darkened slightly.

Yet the whole Lake Island has already lost its light.

The place has become pitch black, completely out of sync with the outside world.

At the very bottom of Lake Island.

Evil Spirit Du Wei silently watched the coffin below.

The chains were crisscrossing at this moment, as if tightened by a tremendous force, creaking.

Some of the chains had already started to crack.

And at the joints of the chains, they had been forcefully pulled apart and were about to break.

An indescribable terrifying aura had already seeped out from the coffin enclosed by layers of chains.

The five Demon Gods imprisoned within were on the verge of taking shape.

Like seeds that had been planted, it was now time for them to bear fruit.

"Just a little more."

"The existence that hides in the shadows has not shown itself, I need to wait a little longer."

Evil Spirit Du Wei murmured softly.

It knew everything that Brother Shadow and the Envelope had done, but it did not care.

It allowed these events to happen.

For no matter what the Envelope and Brother Shadow did, they were merely executing its will.

On the level of Evil Spirit Du Wei.

The contest was no longer observable by mortals; it was a more obscure confrontation.

It might seem calm on the surface.

But beneath that calm, the undercurrent was raging.

"As soon as I catch sight of you, this game can be declared over."

Evil Spirit Du Wei spoke with absolute certainty.

From the beginning, the power of Evil Spirit Du Wei was that unreasonable kind of strong, as if there were no limits, its strength increasing exponentially every time it appeared.

But this was not necessarily a good thing.

Evil Spirit Du Wei had seen the future; it had glimpsed the ending.

The reason for its strength was that it would be powerful in the future.

And its future was another concept's past.

This was an unsolvable vicious cycle.

It was something Evil Spirit Du Wei disliked, it sought to witness change, to break this cycle.

Perhaps this was also a form of mercy for those lives within the cycle.

But at this moment.

A chain broke apart.

Following that, creak...

One after another, the links of the chain snapped.

The chains that enveloped the coffin were nearly two meters thick.

These chains all had the same power as Evil Spirit Du Wei bolstering them, but now they reached their limit.

"Quiet."

Evil Spirit Du Wei's gaze was icy cold as it reprimanded displeasedly.

The coffin below was trembling continuously.

In the darkness, even stranger illusions appeared.

A vertical eye opened, filled with eerie malice.

It was akin to the abyss itself, filled with a longing for Evil Spirit Du Wei.

Whispering sounds arose.

As if countless raspy voices were silently praying.

Those voices carried a demonic intent, trying to influence Evil Spirit Du Wei.

Click...

The sound of a turning dial echoed.

On Evil Spirit Du Wei's Right Hand, the symbol that represented the mask had disappeared at some point, replaced by that of a dial.

And.

On the ring finger of its right hand, the brand that resembled a ring was emitting a chill.

A sensation of stinging pain...

Based on previous behavior.

When the dial symbol appeared and the mask symbol faded, it meant he would appear in the form of Du Wei, but it was still Evil Spirit Du Wei now.

Very abnormal...

Since entering this cursed place.

Du Wei had not shown himself at all.

It had always been Evil Spirit Du Wei; it and he seemed to be plotting something.

"Interesting."

Evil Spirit Du Wei looked at his right hand as a mysterious smile suddenly crept across it.

With his left hand, he casually took out the mask and placed it on his face.

"This world is not the real past."

"I wasn't sure before, but now it's all become clear to me."

"Is it you who's making a move?"

"A false world, even if it's replaying the past, couldn't possibly bind five Demon Gods here unless an external force is involved."

"But the ones in the coffins are indeed the Demon Gods I'm familiar with."

"From the beginning until now, I've been in contact with them for too long."

"Yet I feel that those indeed are the ones inside these coffins."

"Rahmer, Valak... and the other damned things."

"Real Demon Gods in a false world."

"How ludicrous that sounds."

Evil Spirit Du Wei turned his head towards those illusions, his gaze sweeping over them one by one.

"Only I am the truest of all."

"Ironically, I carry the power of Rahmer and Valak with me."

"I am here, and so they have also arrived."

"So who brought the remaining three Demon Gods here?"

"Aside from me, has someone else come to this place?"

...

This was a game.

Evil Spirit Du Wei and an unknown entity were engaged in a game only they could understand.

The purpose of it was still unclear.

But the adversary had already bared its fangs.

It seemed to be a trap set against Evil Spirit Du Wei, a trap devised for Du Wei.

Real Demon God powers emerged in a falsified past.

Therefore, the Hell's Gate that Evil Spirit Du Wei entered wasn't real.

The Mask Maker, or rather, the door in the other eye of its statue, was the true Hell's Gate.

Everything was shrouded in layers of mist.

Evil Spirit Du Wei knew that until the moment to harvest the fruits came, the truth would never surface.

But he had already laid his backup plans.

Just like the mask pattern that had vanished from his hand.

He would not skimp in his pursuit of power, nor would he become a slave to it.

Since his birth.

As he grew stronger, his way of looking at things gradually changed, but what remained constant was the control by wisdom.

Everything was under control.

...

Outside Lake Island, a storm had already arisen.

The lake's surface was whipped up by the wind, shooting towards the sky and crashing onto Lake Island's ground.

It was sticky and moist.

The howling wind raged on.

Minette held her sword as she stepped onto the island.

Beneath the surface of the lake behind her, there were pale faces with eyes wide open, staring from the depths, fixated on Minette.

These Strangeness didn't look like Evil Spirits.

Instead, they seemed like illusions triggered by the awakening of some entity.

But when the boundary between reality and illusion was blurred, even Illusions could kill.

"Envelope, tell me what Du Wei is doing?"

Minette, gritting her teeth, relaxed her grip on the Envelope in the palm of her hand, not worried that this Evil Spirit could escape.

The Envelope was nearly falling apart.

[My lady, the Envelope doesn't know either, ah. The master has been secretive day by day. If I, the Envelope, knew what he planned to do, I wouldn't have signed the Indenture Contract...]

[Please don't pressure the Envelope, I truly don't know...]

Line by line of text appeared.

The Envelope seemed utterly desperate.

But in reality, what it was thinking was: [Just you wait, Minette, you're bullying me now, but as soon as my master gets involved, he'll immediately kill you.]

[My master is a great villain, do you think you can win him over?]

[What a dream...]

As an unquestionable bootlicker, the Envelope always believed in one thing, and that was its master, Du Wei, and Evil Spirit Du Wei, were beyond any bootlicking.

It's good to be without humanity, right…]

At that moment.

Minette's shadow suddenly moved slightly.

A pair of bloodshot eyes opened from within the shadow.

Yet Minette showed no reaction.

However, the Envelope noticed this scene, overjoyed in its heart: [Brother Shadow, I thought you had left, turns out you went to level up...]