(MC POV)
*A few days ago*
I brought Sophia to my room, sitting her down at my table where the two of us could have a talk, alone.
"Right, so we're alone now, what's this big secret that you only wanted to share with me that happened after your possession?"
She smiled at me, "That was a lie actually. I can't show what happened when I was possessed since I did not remember it. Being possessed does that to your memories, Master Lin. Although, I do remember one thing which I don't think your disciples will like seeing."
I raised an eyebrow at her as a silent query.
She stretched out her hand and an image appeared in front of us, showing a picture of the younger me embracing younger Sophia in a kiss.
She smiled at the picture as though it was some kind of fond memory, "I believe you did that to snap me out of it. How you did it still eludes me but… That was my first kiss, you know?"
"I don't know how to respond to that," I answered truthfully.
In fact, I'm kind of glad I lost my memories now… If I was that bad during my first meeting with Sophia, I don't want to know what I'm usually like especially with my sisters.
Sophia giggled, "Gufufu~ No need to, I liked it. If you want to, I wouldn't mind a reenactment of it."
I waved my hand, "I'll pass."
"Shame. I had forgotten the taste."
"Right. So tell me, what really happened to you? You even joined up with the Dark Sect of all places when you could have just come back to Heaven Sect to seek refuge."
Her demonic tail swished idly behind her, "Hmmm… From where would you like to hear?"
"From the very beginning, perhaps?"
She sighed, "Master Lin, I assure you, my life story isn't as exciting as you think it might be. What I had summarised for you is basically what happened. Even as a demon, I was just stuck in that tower acting as a battery for the fake demon lord."
"Well, that's the thing, where did this fake demon lord even come from?"
"That was the friend that I trusted who cursed me in the first place. Blinded by the lure of power, he cursed me to turn into a demon so that he could gain power. But so twisted was the power that he lost his humanity as well, turning into that monstrosity you saw in that memory."
Huh, why would anyone think that was a good idea? Taking some kind of dark power to strengthen yourself can never lead to a good end. What kind of person would resort to this?
You know what, don't answer that.
"Alright, in that case, why the Dark Sect?"
She shrugged, "At that point, I thought the Dark Sect would be my best bet to learn more about this curse. No Sect would accept a demon into their midst after all, even if they happened to be their past Sect Master. Unfortunately for me, the Dark Sect knew as much about the curse as I did. Or at least, the people I came in contact with knew next to nothing."
"Odd, I thought the younger me would have insisted you stay with me?"
"Oh, you did. But I believe Master Lin knows what kind of uproar would be created if a ten year old brought back a demon lord to his house, right? Thus I rejected your offer and went out alone. Was it foolish? Perhaps. But I am not the kind of person who would put my own benefactor in a precarious position of my own choosing."
A demon lord with morals, who knew? Then again, she's not really a demon lord so I guess that makes sense.
"So I assume you did a lot of things for the Dark Sect?" I asked, leaning on my hand.
She shook her head, "You might be surprised but no. I made myself seem weaker than I really was and they never really bothered to assign me on anything important. I believe they trusted demons as far as they could throw them and I was no exception. No one really bothered to get to know me."
"Hmmm… But now you chose to come to me. Why?"
She propped up her chin with a hand, "Oh, when your first love has grown up into a strapping young man, how could a lady like myself resist the temptation?"
"Very funny. No really."
Sophia pouted, "That is part of the reason you know? But fine. Where else could a demon like myself find refuge on this Plane? Hiding out in a hole for the rest of my life doesn't sound exactly what I want to go through. I've got enough of being stuck in a small room for a lifetime."
"You weren't worried I would have rejected you? Maybe even killed you?"
"If you recall, the younger you did plead for me to stay with you, though I had no idea you lost your memories at that point. I thought you might still welcome me and if you didn't, you wouldn't just kill me on sight."
I scratched my chin, "Hmmm… Makes sense. Still, the me right now isn't exactly familiar with you."
"Gufufu~ We have a lot of time to learn about each other, don't we?"
That actually gave me an idea.
They say that once you cross swords with someone, you'll learn more about them than you ever could from just talking.
I did learn a lot of things about my disciples from our battles, both during our normal training and our night time activities.
"Hey, want to spar? Just a quick one?" I suggested.
Sophia raised an eyebrow at me, "Unless you have somewhere that is completely deserted, our fight will level this entire mountain, Master Lin."
"Oh, in that case…" I snapped my fingers, teleporting the two of us to the place I had my fight with Lilith. "Would this place do?"
She looked around the place, "Is this… Where you had that big fight with whatever the Dark Sect had tried to summon?"
"Hmm? Were you not aware of who they summoned?"
"No, mooks like me were kept out of the loop, I'm afraid. Not that they would have told a demon like myself anyway."
"Well, you're better off not knowing. So would this place do?"
She turned to me, her amber eyes turning red in colour while her demonic tattoos glowed slightly, "If you wouldn't mind an unworthy opponent like myself, Master Lin. It would be an honour to spar with you."
"Oh, likewise," I greeted back, laying down my protection inscription in the area.
With a nod of our heads as the signal, she raised her hand into the air as though in prayer before pulling them down.
I raised my own hands just in time to stop the giant ball of Dark energy from dropping right on top of me, the ball exploding outwards and spewing black miasma everywhere that corroded everything it touched.
With my hands still raised, I clenched my fists and dropped my arms to my sides, pulling the air in between us apart.
Sophia crossed her arms in front of her chest, creating an impromptu shield that managed to protect her from the invisible wind explosion I created.
Undeterred, I pulled back my fist and punched forward, blasting a spear that was mixed with Light and Dark Quarks at her.
Her tattoos glowed white in colour and she lifted her palm to point at my spear, stopping it in midair.
I watched in fascination as she turned the spear around and shot it right back at me, the way she took over my own Technique was nothing short of masterful.
Oops, no time to admire her skill now.
I clad my fist in a layer of Pure Elemental Quarks and backhanded the spear into the sky, letting it implode itself above our heads.
Manipulating the earth under my feet, I wrapped my legs in mounds of dirt to anchor myself just as a black hole was created above us.
I could hear her clicking her teeth from here since she hadn't expected that to happen, her entire body already being lifted into the air.
Sophia reached her hand towards the black hole and clenched, creating another black hole right beside mine.
Both of them quickly merged together and collapsed the space between them, winking out of existence as suddenly as they had appeared.
She's definitely Master level at least, her prowess is undeniable.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, she turned to me with dark mist enveloped around her, her irises seemingly aflame.
Looks like she decided to step up her game now.
This should be an interesting spar.