Bonus 4 Part 2

In the empty construction site, there was a soft buzzing sound as a burst of flames shot across the ground.

Xuan Ji absentmindedly drew symbols in the air while muttering to himself, "Back then, I didn't know any better. Whether it was well-intentioned or malicious, people were always crowding around you, while I only had you..."

"Ah, I know," Sheng Lingyuan said in a warm tone, then added slowly, "It's like a child being afraid of their father finding them a stepmother."

Xuan Ji's hand slipped and ruined the talisman he was drawing.

"Who are you taking advantage of now!"

Sheng Lingyuan laughed.

"You're just standing there with your hands tied, not helping, and causing trouble. You..."

Xuan Ji was interrupted by a sudden black shadow flashing across his peripheral vision.

At the same time, Sheng Lingyuan's laughter stopped abruptly, and in the blink of an eye, he had darted forward like a ghost.

He whipped out a snake-like black mist from his hand, nailing a gray shadow to the ground. A bit of demonic energy leaked out, but before it could spread, it was swallowed by the black mist.

"What is it?" Xuan Ji temporarily put aside the argument and jumped into the pit.

There, he saw a strange creature the size of a palm, with two heads and covered in gray fur.

"The 'Victory Bug'? Hasn't it been extinct?"

In fact, the Victory Bug is a type of scavenger insect. However, they only feed on the corpses of demons and are attracted to demon pills.

During the most intense battles, this creature was once considered a beneficial insect by the human race who hated demons, and was given the auspicious name of "Victory Bug".

However, the Victory Bug is actually quite troublesome. Not only is it resilient, but it can also absorb some of the demon's power after consuming a powerful demon pill.

Since the bug has no brain, it cannot control the demon power it absorbs and often causes havoc aimlessly. Fortunately, the demon race eventually died out, and the parasitic insects that fed on their bodies slowly disappeared.

"The Victory Insect can hibernate for thousands of years after swallowing a demon's demon pill," Sheng Lingyuan said. "Afterwards, when Chiyuan was sealed, it probably slept until now. I was wondering how a Nightmare formation without even a leader could cause such a commotion, and now I know it was because of this insect."

"After the Nightmare beast dies, doesn't it turn into a fossil?" Xuan Ji kicked the insect corpse with his foot. "Then how can it eat? This little thing has iron jaws and copper teeth?"

Sheng Lingyuan sighed - these students who lacked common sense since childhood.

"The Nightmare beast is good at formations and often moves underground. They are uncivilized creatures who don't like to bathe, and their bodies often carry some insect eggs," Sheng Lingyuan said. "This insect should have parasitized on it while it was still alive..."

"Stop talking, it's disgusting," Xuan Ji shuddered before Sheng Lingyuan could finish speaking. "I'll heat it up and get rid of the poison."

"Wait..." Sheng Lingyuan's words were cut off by Xuan Ji's actions.

Before he could finish, Xuan Ji's palm had already produced a burst of flames.

He pressed it into the pit dug up at the construction site, causing a loud explosion and a thick cloud of smoke to billow out.

"Ouch, how did this burn into a mushroom cloud?" Xuan Ji exclaimed, but before he could get a good look, the heavenly demon energy around them formed a small protective shield, enveloping the two of them.

Sheng Lingyuan slapped Xuan Ji on the back of his head.

"You reckless fool."

The parasites on the corpse of the nightmare beast were certainly not just one.

There was actually a nest underground, and who knows how many there were.

When the divine fire fell from the sky and burned them all, the demonic energy on one of the parasites was not much, but when they gathered together and were burned by the Vermilion Bird's flames, it was quite a spectacle.

Thick smoke blew past the protective barrier formed by the black mist, making a sound like hail hitting a glass window.

This was the demonic energy left behind in the Nightmare beast chief's demonic pill before his death.

Sensing living creatures, it relentlessly attempted to penetrate through. Then, a small illusionary realm like an outdoor movie theater formed outside the black mist.

Sheng Lingyuan had just thought about having the black mist swallow up this "historical residual demonic energy" when he suddenly froze.

He saw the illusion in the smoke clearly.

In the fantasy world, he was crowned and worshipped by officials at a grand altar.

Although the altar was magnificent, its architecture was a mishmash of styles from different regions, as if it was the product of a child's wild imagination. The officials knelt and chanted as they sealed away the demonic sword.

The sword had already fulfilled its purpose and was now enshrined and worshipped throughout the land. The emperor and his officials descended the stone steps to govern the mortal realm, leaving the sword on the high altar.

Perhaps because the sword had been sealed away, the connection between the Sword Spirit and its former owner was lost.

In this fantasy world, Sheng Lingyuan seemed unaware that the sword spirit had secretly followed him off the altar, living its own life without his knowledge as he attended court, governed, and even got married.

Sheng Lingyuan saw himself in the illusion marrying a witch girl from the witch clan. Aluojin, as a member of the bride's family, was jumping up and down at the wedding, which was still within the realm of imagination.

But what happened next was beyond belief - Dan Li presided over the ceremony, and Empress Chen sat high above the hall.

Sheng Lingyuan couldn't help but be amused by Xuan Ji's young self: "So this is what you saw in the Nightmare formation when you were a child?"

Xuan Ji's flame was at his fingertips, ready to break the illusion, but Sheng Lingyuan grabbed him.

The Vermilion Bird's flame was also the nemesis of the heavenly demon, which startled Xuan Ji. He quickly extinguished the flame and asked, "Did I burn you? Is it too hot?"

"Let me take another look," Sheng Lingyuan held onto his hand, "It's rare to see something so...cough."

To avoid embarrassing Xuan Ji, he didn't say the word "adorable" and instead eagerly watched as his imaginary self married one woman after another in a dreamlike state.

He even created a harem for himself, spending his days wandering through gardens and watching the beautiful women compete for his attention, though he didn't know what he was trying to achieve.

Little Sword Spirit had limited imagination and had probably never seen many people who looked good.

In his mind, all the women in the harem looked exactly like Sheng Lingyuan.

In his "terrifying fantasy," Sheng Lingyuan was entangled in a complicated love affair with a group of cross-dressing versions of himself, with children and grandchildren filling the halls.

Because all the female characters looked the same, he could only distinguish them by their clothing and hairstyles, and even after staring at them for a long time, Sheng Lingyuan couldn't figure out how many wives he had.

Xuan Ji pushed him away and said, "What the hell are you laughing at!"

A fierce wind carrying flames suddenly burst out from the demonic energy, burning away the illusion from the uneasy fear in his young self's heart and then sweeping into the white mist outside.

Sheng Lingyuan couldn't help but laugh so hard he nearly cried, "Enough, enough, I can't handle all this beauty...haha..."

Xuan Ji: "..."

The thick fog was blown away by the hot wind, and the field agents who had been trapped in the Nightmare formation finally returned to the real world.

Wang Ze's wailing could be heard not far away, "I refuse to date a zombie! Her dental plaque was passed down from the Tang Dynasty. If I kiss her, I'll go straight to heaven without having to seek enlightenment! Help!"