The battle between Ji Shan and Emperor Du was announced. And as soon as the battle began, Ji Shan dashed towards Emperor Du, trying to kill him.
"You're too naive, little kid!" Emperor Du laughed as he punched back lazily. He didn't even bother to take the fight seriously since he still had five minutes.
Emperor Du and Ji Shan's fists clashed with each other, which resulted in both of them being pushed back one step.
"Huh?"
Emperor Du was shocked to see that strength. But he was even more shocked to see something else.
He looked back towards Emperor Meng, frowning.
"Emperor Meng, did you know about it? You intentionally brought a person here who is possessed by a Dark Spirit? Did you think you could win like that?" Emperor Du asked, shocked.
"Dark Spirit?"
"What? He is possessed by the Dark Spirit? Doesn't this mean they are cheating?"
"Shameless Bastards!"
The crowd was in an uproar as they heard about the Dark Spirit.
Even the fellow Emperors were stunned.
"He is possessed by a Dark Spirit? And we weren't even able to notice? What an interesting thing. It must be a really high-level Dark Spirit," the Emperor of Tricion muttered.
"That's understandable. It's tough to find Dark Spirits when they hide inside cultivators, especially if they're strong ones. I'm not shocked that we couldn't find it. Even Emperor Du probably only found it after touching Ji Shan," Emperor Qian said calmly.
"So that was why I was having a strange feeling after seeing that guy. Dark Spirit..." Du Liang rubbed his chin, finally having an answer.
He had been long confused why he found Ji Shan threatening.
"Dark Spirit? What's that? Why is everyone so shocked?" Second Prince Meng Qian asked his Elder Brother. He didn't understand it. Why was everyone so shocked now? The dark spirit was really that frightening?
Third Prince Meng Huling also looked towards his brother for an answer.
"Dark spirits are pretty rare actually. I think that's why everyone is so scared," the Crown Prince replied to his younger brothers.
"But what are they? Are they the same as Evil Spirits?" Meng Huling inquired.
...
In the stands, Long Chen was asking the same question with Xun. He also seemed confused.
"Not really. Dark Spirits are even rarer," Xun answered.
"Both Dark Spirits and Evil Spirits are the same in some regards. They both came into existence from exceptionally negative feelings of Cultivators who didn't accept their death. That's only an assumption, though. No one truly knows what is the criteria for becoming a spirit," she further added.
"This question has been plaguing scholars for millions of years. What separates the path between becoming a spirit and between going through nirvana to enter the reincarnation cycle. Anyway, that aside, both Evil Spirits and Dark Spirits appear the same way," she continued.
"Then what's the difference between the two?" Long Chen asked. "The Spirit I used for my Spirit Sword, was it a Dark Spirit of an Evil Spirit?"
"To know that, you need to understand the difference. Dark Spirits are the ones that carry over the strengths from when they were alive. Evil Spirits don't," Xun answered. "To explain further, if an Evil Spirit possesses someone, it can't use the strength from before death."
"So if a Heaven Realm Cultivator dies, becomes an Evil Spirit, and possesses the body of an Earth Realm Cultivator, it can only use the strength of an Earth Realm Cultivator. On the other hand, if a Heaven Realm Cultivator dies, becomes Dark Spirit and possesses the body of an Earth Realm Cultivator..."
Xun spoke till here, but now, Long Chen was able to complete her sentence.
"Then despite not having Heaven realm Cultivation in the new body, he can still use the Heaven Realm strength?" he asked.
"That's right," Xun answered. "The spirit you used for your Spirit Sword was also possessing a body. But it wasn't able to use its old strength. So it was an Evil Spirit."
"That means Ji Shan is possessed? That's why he was so different? But how did that happen? Who possessed him?" Long Chen muttered in confusion.
This made sense now. How else would Ji Shan be so different? It was because he wasn't himself.
"What about his original spirit? What happened to that? Don't tell me he is dead?" he asked.
"No, he isn't dead. When Dark spirits possess someone, their spirits fall asleep. Because they don't take over strength and body entirely. They carry their own strength with them. If it were an Evil Spirit, then Ji Shan's Spirit would have been destroyed by now," Xun answered.
"So how can I save him? Tell me a way to bring that Dark Spirit out of him," Long Chen asked Xun.
"You can't do it. Haven't you seen? Whoever that Dark Spirit is, was able to match that Saint Realm Emperor! That means it's the Dark Spirit who happened to be a Saint Realm Emperor previously. You're too weak to even fight a Saint Realm Emperor properly, let alone a Saint Realm Cultivator who is possessing someone," Xun answered, sighing.
"Don't tell me this is the only thing I can do. I can't leave him like that," Long Chen said to Xun.
"I know you're emotional, partially because of using that sword for so long. Don't do it. It's too late now for you. Just give up and forget about him," Xun answered.
"Wait! I remember how I defeated the Evil Spirit! It was because of my Bloodline! This must be the same?"
"No. That Evil Spirit was much weaker. And it didn't carry over any strength. This Dark Spirit is much different. You'll be an idiot even to try anything. The only way to use your bloodline against a Dark Spirit is by forcing that Dark spirit to come out of the body. And it will only come out if it wants to," Xun answered.
"There's only one way to force or to come out, and that's by cutting the body it's possessing in half. I don't even consider if you can do it or not based on your strength. But can you do it based on your will? Cutting him in half means killing Ji Shan forever. That defeats the whole purpose. At Least his spirit is still safe now. You'll kill it even more with your plans. Don't try anything," Xun said.
"Don't do anything?" Long Chen muttered as he gazed at Ji Shan, frowning.
Now it made sense for him. But was he really so weak that he couldn't do anything right now to save him?