"Haven't consumed pills in a while. An eighth-grade spirit pill truly is fragrant, and the spiritual energy is abundant."
Yang Hong tossed an eighth-grade [Spirit Replenishing Pill] and an eighth-grade [Essence Restoration Pill] into his mouth, chewed them a few times, and then slowly swallowed, a look of enjoyment on his face.
"Damn bald donkey, so you have pills, does that make you so great?
This demon will just wear you down. This demon wants to see how many pills a mere ant cultivator like you has!
This demon will outlast you!"
Seeing Yang Hong's satisfied expression, the inner demon lurking in the shadows was furious, roaring in anger, but still not daring to show itself.
"Alas, the speed at which these pills restore my spiritual energy is still too slow. I still need to add top-grade spirit stones to speed things up and make it more convenient."
Hearing the inner demon's enraged voice, Yang Hong casually took out two more top-grade spirit stones, fiddling with them in his hand as he spoke.
As long as the inner demon was displeased, he was pleased!
Of course, while engaging in verbal sparring, he wouldn't forget to restore his spiritual energy, nor would he relax his assault with his sword domain.
"Heh heh, top-grade spirit stones, is that all? This demon has demon stones, and immortal stones. Do you want to see them?"
"Yes, please. Bring them out and show them off, my little darlings."
"Hmph, this demon won't let you see them."
"Heh heh, you don't have them!"
"Hmph, hmph, even if this demon had them, I wouldn't show them to you. I'll infuriate you to death."
"You don't have them."
"Hmph..."
Both of them were aiming to wear the other down and stall for time, and their strategy was to engage in verbal abuse.
Amidst the constant rumbling and spells flying everywhere in this area, the fact that they could still speak clearly and understand each other was a testament to their skill.
In the dim Hong Cave Secret Realm, time's passage was imperceptible. Yang Hong had no idea how long had passed, but he had consumed all one hundred eighth-grade spiritual energy recovery pills he carried.
Feeling that the spiritual energy concentration around him was already good, he took out another spiritual plant.
"Ding~ You have injected 900 days of cultivation into the ninth-grade spirit plant Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, gaining a two-fold cultivation return, and receiving 1800 days of cultivation."
Upon hearing this system notification, Yang Hong first took out a gourd of wine from his storage ring, took a large gulp, and then continued his verbal sparring with the inner demon.
"Inner demon, I have wine here. Do you have any stories?
Tell me about your misfortunes to make me happy."
"Despicable bald donkey, I'll tell you, this demon has eaten no less than eight million bald donkeys in its life. You just wait to be eaten by this demon.
You bald donkeys are always the most stubborn before being eaten, but once eaten, you become the most wicked, most evil bunch, the most disgusting, and the most delicious.
Hahaha~"
"Little bald donkey, let this demon tell you how to make a person taste good.
First, you must torture a person until they break mentally, then find all sorts of ways to stimulate their will to survive, then..."
The inner demon was rambling on, teaching Yang Hong how to "eat people," while Yang Hong continued to take out ninth-grade [Heavenly Thunder Bamboo] and inject cultivation.
His right-hand scale space, after centuries of continuous development, had become a vast area of over a hundred square miles, with tens of thousands of ninth-grade spirit plants maintained year-round.
"Ding~ You have injected 1200 days of cultivation into the ninth-grade spirit plant Heavenly Thunder Bamboo, gaining a two-fold cultivation return, and receiving 2400 days of cultivation."
Soon, his daily limit of 30 spirit plant infusions was used up. The cultivation injected reached 1200 days, and the return multiple was still two-fold. It seemed that quickly draining the secret realm's heavenly and earthly essence wouldn't be so easy.
It would be a war of attrition.
*Pfft*
The inner demon seemed to get carried away explaining how to eat people, its excited voice carrying endless seductive power around Yang Hong, causing him to make mistakes in restoring his spiritual energy several times.
Yang Hong, spitting out another mouthful of blood, cast a resentful glance at the nearby Spiritual Enlightenment Tree Forest, but could only temporarily suppress the urge to charge in.
"Bald donkey, you've gone into qi deviation, haha~ you've gone into qi deviation.
Come, come~ this demon will teach you how to extract the greed of men, especially adult men. Just start with 'wine, lust, wealth, and anger,' first do this, then do that..."
Seeing Yang Hong spit blood again, the inner demon became even more excited, and had the inclination to "educate" Yang Hong.
Indeed, Yang Hong's injuries were caused by continuously infusing cultivation into spirit plants, triggering the descent of karma. To prevent the karmic fire from burning, he had proactively burned his karma with Red Lotus Karmic Fire, leading to his injuries.
It wasn't qi deviation, but he certainly wasn't going to reveal the truth.
There were no sun and moon markers for time, but Yang Hong had the [System] to mark time. As long as he could infuse spirit plants again, it would be a new day.
Amidst this peculiar harmony, a month passed.
The [Yin-Yang Two Forms Spiritual Infusion Array] he had set up had been expanded to an area of 360 zhang, while his sword domain remained at 380 zhang, with the extra 20 zhang used to protect the [Two Forms Array].
If this harmony continued, Yang Hong was confident he could purify the entire Hong Cave Secret Realm within a year.
Unfortunately, the inner demon was not stupid.
"Hahaha~ Bald donkey, your array is quite good. It makes this demon's heart itch, so I've learned your array. Now let me show you this demon's array.
Demon Infestation of the Heavens Array~ Rise!"
Just as Yang Hong was performing his eighth spirit plant infusion of the new day, he heard the inner demon's arrogant laughter in his ears. Immediately, 3549 enormous demonic plants erupted from the ground around Yang Hong, their branches and leaves connecting to form a massive array that enveloped him and his sword domain.
Endless, deep darkness devoured even the colorless light of the sword domain, and was rapidly consuming the sword energy and sword intent Yang Hong had released!
"What! You can set up arrays too!
And this array, it's so familiar?"
Seeing himself surrounded by the array, Yang Hong was also surprised. He had been playing it safe and steady during this period, not rushing, but slowly expanding the scope of his sword domain.
Although he had seen a large number of demonic plants being gathered with his divine sense, he hadn't expected the inner demon to learn his method of setting up arrays and even create such a powerful one.
"Bald donkey, you may not know this? We demons are the originators of array formations. Your human arrays were learned from us demons."
"Now, obediently become a demon!"
Before Yang Hong could finish his surprise, the gloomy demonic energy directly merged into his sword domain, rapidly corrupting the intent within the domain through the sword energy.
The five-colored sword domain was quickly stained with a layer of black!
Although Yang Hong had extraordinary means, he was facing a demon whose strength was unfathomable. Even though he had resisted the demon's attacks and temptations for a month, he could not completely guess all of the demon's methods.
But even if he was at a disadvantage, he would not admit defeat or surrender!
"Hmph~ Sword Domain, Condense!"
Under Yang Hong's will, endless sword energy rapidly condensed into a heaven-slashing giant sword. Even though the five-colored giant sword was already speckled with black, it still emanated a righteous, immortal aura.
"Earth Splitting Slash!"
Yang Hong roared, and the five-colored giant sword's world-destroying aura directly targeted the direction of the Spiritual Enlightenment Tree Forest and slashed with all its might.
*Bang* *Rumble*
The violent strike directly tore through the darkness, shattering the so-called [Demon Infestation of the Heavens Array] and powerfully slashing into the Spiritual Enlightenment Tree Forest.
*Crack* *Crack*
The sound of breaking trees echoed.
"Damn bald donkey, I will kill you!"
A colossal human figure, hundreds of zhang tall, slowly rose from the Spiritual Enlightenment Tree Forest!
The inner demon had finally appeared!