Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

The blood mass was exceedingly sinister.

Without any capacity to resist, Mercer was enveloped by it.

Then.

The entire blood mass began to boil.

It ceaselessly burrowed into Mercer's nose, mouth, ears, and eyes.

The Demon Spirit possessing him did not stop this process.

It seemed the blood was even more terrifying than the Demon Spirit.

As they merged, something was about to awaken...

To the side, the Evil Spirits Du Wei and Matthew watched coldly, and strangely, they did not attack each other. Instead, they seemed to be waiting for something.

It was utterly incomprehensible.

"Can you tell me what force you belong to? The one here doesn't seem to be the real you," Matthew said, retreating to the side in the pouring rain.

Holding a dagger, Du Wei calmly replied, "It's indeed not the real me; I'm merely controlling this corpse in a different manner."

"As for your question, human? Do you think I am human?"

Matthew remained silent, watching Du Wei with extreme caution.

The only reason he didn't act was that he realized that continuing to fight would be meaningless.

Moreover, more figures had appeared in the darkness.

Thus, he said indifferently, "There are many non-humans in this world. In my memory, plenty have survived. You give me the feeling of someone from my memories."

"Equally cold-blooded and elegant, possessing the ability to manipulate objects from a distance and to immobilize, yet you are not him."

Matthew had lived for many years as the leader of the Dusk Bell Church. Every once in a while, when he felt he should die, he would change his identity and return to Dusk Bell.

Hence, he was aware of many people's existence.

It's just that when he merged with that 'thing' before, there were some complications, causing him to only be able to remain behind the scenes for a period, unable to pay attention to the world's anomalies.

And now, Matthew suddenly felt that this unknown existence in front of him could very well be one of the non-humans who had survived from the same era as him.

Though Du Wei was far less experienced and powerful than Matthew...

His insight into the human heart and nature was absolute.

Therefore, he said coldly, "Matthew, you feel very unfamiliar to me."

This...

This tone carried a profoundly familiar intimacy.

Matthew's eyes shifted immediately, conjuring many connections.

"His Excellency the Duke?"

"No, that can't be right, he's already dead..."

Matthew was from the Victorian Era when the church was at its pinnacle, and there were countless more hunters than in modern times.

The question posed by the Evil Spirit was not the issue at all.

The only threat were those terrifying things that brought forth Evil Spirits into the world.

They were conceptual in nature.

Matthew was once the youngest bishop in the church. He had encountered, and knew of many, from the Victorian Era who were not human yet not unlike me.

Among them was a mysterious man known as the Duke.

Upon hearing this, Du Wei's mind immediately processed a multitude of information.

Thus, he stated expressionlessly, "Nothing is impossible, Matthew. What you merged with was not thorough enough, and the people of the Vanity Sect are not as simple as you think."

His words were very vague and did not directly confirm or deny anything.

Moreover, he skillfully shifted the conversation in another direction.

The trickery didn't necessarily have to wait for the next meeting to begin; it could dig pits even now.

Matthew's expression immediately became exceedingly complex: "Is that so..."

He had lived for far too long.

Many memories from the past emerged at this moment.

At that moment, Mercer, surrounded by blood, suddenly let out a sinister chuckle.

"Heh heh heh..."

It didn't sound human at all.

Rather, it was more akin to some dreadful being.

Moreover, Mercer's body underwent even more abnormal changes, with the blood seeping into his flesh, turning his skin ghastly pale as if it had been soaked in water.

A particular pattern also emerged on his face, resembling a birthmark.

"What I hate the most are you ghosts, ancient and sinister and horrific. I never expected that the blood would be ineffective against you as well."

"Let me guess, both of you have merged with 'that thing,' right?"

"Only now, I have merged with it, too."

With a sinister smile, Mercer opened his mouth. His tongue was black like a snake's flickering fork, and his eyes deeply sunken, pupils shrunken to yellow-speckled dots, nearly overtaken by the whites.

He looked strikingly similar to the Demon Nun.

His mental state had completely twisted.

It seemed even more terrifying.

Yet Matthew said in a deep voice, "This is the curse of Solomon's Seventy-Two Pillars Demon Gods. Has your Vanity Sect opened that door again?"

But Mercer could no longer speak, his hands feebly grasping at the air.

His chaotic mind drove him to a highly irrational decision.

He took action against both Matthew and Evil Spirit Du Wei simultaneously.

At this moment.

Both Matthew and Evil Spirit Du Wei coincidentally reached out their hands at the same time.

Visible in Matthew's palm was a special pattern as well, an open eye with two interlaced pupils.

On Evil Spirit Du Wei's right hand, there was a mask pattern.

This seemed to be connected somehow.

It was at the very moment the two struck.

An invisible force compressed and contorted Mercer out of shape.

Matthew stood on one side while Evil Spirit Du Wei stood on the other.

The two appeared to be working together in an exorcism, firmly restraining Mercer.

Even so, the transmuted Mercer still wasn't dead, and the agony even awakened his consciousness.

"Are you going to watch me die?"

Tap tap tap...

Footsteps sounded.

As though the downpour was being muted, the surroundings fell eerily quiet save for the continuing rain and the distinct footsteps.

Evil Spirit Du Wei turned his head expressionlessly, only to see on the road behind him, eleven individuals in black coats and white masks of an indescribable material approaching.

The masks were all slightly different, some large, some small.

Some had complete facial features.

Others bore a single eye only.

With every step they took, Matthew's expression grew increasingly grim.

He suddenly realized that after merging with that thing, his approach had become a bit too ostentatious.

The Vanity Sect had opened that door again, and given their modus operandi, they would surely do something with those sinister beings.

As primal malignance, Solomon's Seventy-Two Pillars Demon Gods are a terrifying existence in the realm of concepts.

Anything related to them is cursed.

But if he could merge with it, there's no reason the people from the Vanity Sect couldn't.

"I need to get out of here quickly..."

But just as Matthew formed this thought in his mind, he saw "His Excellency the Duke" beside him wave a hand to seize Mercer and, seemingly doing something to him, flung him towards the people of the Vanity Sect.

And then.

His "His Excellency the Duke" ran off...