After finishing their disguise, albeit temporary, they sat in a circle on the soft grass to listen to the explanation of what they could do while united and the threat looming at the gate with nine demons approaching. This made them a little nervous, as facing high-level demons was no easy task, and they would be fighting nine of them in a row before reaching Crystal Valley.
"So, one of the things we can use is mental communication. Wen Xiao and I already tried it, and it worked perfectly. It's not difficult once you focus on the person you need to communicate with. I suppose there's no distance limit, right?" Yichen asked, looking at Zhu Yan sitting next to him.
"Of course, there is none. As long as we're bound, distance doesn't matter, and it's not limited to just one person at a time. If you open your mind completely, you'll be able to communicate with the entire unit at once. This is crucial when fighting a high level demon, because one mistake can result in your death, or the death of everyone else. The demons we'll be facing aren't just physically strong. Some are experts at mental manipulation. If they trap your mind and you close yourself off from the rest, we all lose," Zhu Yan explained to the group.
"But isn't that also dangerous? If we're all mentally connected, wouldn't it be easier for a demon to trap us all at once?" Wen Xiao asked, and Li Lun nodded.
"Technically, yes. If everyone gives in to a mind control, it's over. But with Ying Lei, the mind shield expert, and Zhuo Yixuan, with his purifying aura eliminating illusions, anything like that is unlikely to happen. Of course, we great demons, will also prevent the demons from mind controlling you. However, the demons will fight fiercely to keep us busy, while they try to trap you, so be careful. If something suddenly feels off, it's very likely an illusion." Li Lun answered Wen Xiao's question.
"In times of crisis, you can also force your instincts to act accordingly. If someone sees another in mortal danger, we can all mentally command any member of this bond to move right, left, up, and down as needed. For example, if a demon attempts a sneak attack that Bai Jiu isn't aware of, but Yichen sees it coming, he can prevent it by commanding Bai Jiu to move for a few seconds, giving him a chance to counterattack or escape. However, this isn't something that can be done during an entire fight. Only in emergencies. For any of you to do this, you only need to want to save someone strongly enough to impose your will on the bond, and it will respond instantly." Zhu Yan continues the explanation.
"So what if more than one of us see it coming? Wouldn't different wills interfere with each other?" Bai Jiu asked.
"The bond between us, is not a thing that is unaware of itself. It's as much alive as everyone of us is. The first to force their will to act to save another, will be the one allowed. The others will be naturally, nullified." Zhu Yan answer.
"I think it would be best if they discovered for themselves everything they can do by experiencing it. Zhu Yan can create some mid-level demons and push them enough to use the connection naturally, as they would in the demon world. After all, they're no strangers to hardship," Lu Lun suggested, and almost everyone trembled under his serious gaze.
"He really is a demon..." Bai Jiu whispered, remembering his past training and how awful it had been. Ying Lei smiled at him and squeezed his arm lightly.
"I think the great demon Li Lun's suggestion is very sound. Rigorous training forces trainees to push themselves and grasp things more quickly. Besides, mid-level demons are far below what we might face once inside the demon world. High-level demons, after all, are a step below great demons, and there may be some who are closer to becoming one. We don't have much time to learn new things, so the sooner we master our capabilities and limitations, the better. Survival has always been the best way to awaken hidden abilities. As Commander, this is the kind of training I myself would have undertaken if our unit had been formed under normal circumstances. I remind you that, despite feeling like we had been working side by side for a long time, we had only been on our first mission as a unit for a few days when Zhu Yan show up and invited us here," Pei Sijing pointed out, since they had indeed been a unit for about a month, and most of that time had been spent training by him and later Li Lun. Under Zhu Yan's tutelage, they cultivated, while their core seals were undo layer by layer.
"Then I think we shouldn't face mid-level demons. If time is of the essence, let's face things head-on. We're going to do it anyway, so we might as well experience something as close to reality as possible. Do you have any information about the demons approaching the gate?" Wen Xiao asked, and Zhu Yan smiled.
"Of course I do. In war, you need to know your enemy far better than your friend. The nine approaching demons are well-known. They're all very powerful, but their fighting styles differ. Some are highly intelligent, which poses the greatest challenge; others, not so much. Let me show you what we're up against..." Zhu Yan cast a spell that took the form of a demon: a pale but strikingly beautiful woman with glowing red eyes. She was tall, with black hair streaked with white, pale as a ghost, yet possessing an ethereal beauty that chilled the blood.
"She is Gu Yue, better known in human history as Baigujing. Have you heard of her?" Zhu Yan asked, and, as expected, all eyes turned to Wen Xiao, their expert on the subject of demons.
"Yes, I know her. She's a demon who, it's said, absorbs the energy of the sun and moon, born from the bones of a maiden. With the power of the sun and moon, she can be very dangerous and shapeshift at will. It's said she can transform from animal to man or woman in an instant. While she roamed the lands in the time of demons and gods, her greatest pastime was hunting maidens, whom she would usually deceive in harmless forms, such as rabbits or weak-looking women or men seeking help. She killed a great number of humans that way, and, to be honest, if the demon god hadn't trapped her along with the rest of the demons in the dimension he created, she would have been a serious threat to all the demon hunters who came after," Wen Xiao explained as Zhu Yan nodded in agreement with her accurate information.
"Wen Xiao is very wise for her age, as expected of the daughter of a High Commander." Zhu Yan praise her knowledge.
"However, she is now more powerful than before, cunning and swift, lethal and manipulative. Her shapeshifting ability makes her extremely dangerous. She likes women, but she can take any form she desires, even ours. Therefore, the upcoming battles will not be based solely on brute force, but will also be strategic. We must keep this in mind and be cautious at every turn." Zhu Yan warned them in advance, as fighting high-level demons was completely different from what they were used to hunting in the cities they came from, where they fought more beast demons (who were not as smart or as dangerous), than those that could take human form.
"Of course. Throughout human history, many demons disguised as humans have caused great calamities and killed hundreds of people, absorbing human yin and yang energy for their own growth. Two centuries ago, a fox demon, disguised as a human, tricked around fifty-five young men from different cities and towns, absorbing their life energy and leaving only their dry corpses behind. The deaths of these young people remained unsolved for ten years in all the Demon Hunting Bureaus, until the fox demon chose as her prey a demon hunter renowned as one of the most powerful of the time. She knew his reputation, but it was said that he was so handsome that she couldn't let him escape her cunning clutches, believing she could defeat him, since she was a high-level demon, thousands of years old. She lured him into a trap and almost succeeded, but the young hunter's will was ironclad, and he broke her spell at the last moment, killing her. History has taught us that demons are not only dangerous but also cunning, so it is to be expected that those who inhabit the demon world, with insane levels of cultivation, should be approached with the utmost caution." Wen Xiao added, as she wanted for the two great demons to know they will never underestimate the strength or the intelligence of a high level demon, unless it proven to be a rare case of brute force with no brain.
"Shapeshifters are the most troublesome. If this demon can also take our form, what can we do to prevent it?" Asked Bai Jiu, as the youngest, seeking advice, since, given his young age, he hadn't hunted as many demons as the others.
"Before, if we encountered demons like that, we'd be in serious trouble, since we wouldn't rush to kill one of our own if there was a chance it wasn't a demon. However, right now we have a great advantage over shapeshifters," Ying Lei told his young lover, trying to reassure him, assuring him that even if they faced such a threat, they could distinguish a fake from a real one. But wanting to demonstrate the difficulty, Zhu Yan used a one-word spell, and after a cloud of red smoke dissipated, they discovered that several Zhuo Yichen's surrounded them, including the real one.
"Now, tell me which one is the real one," he demanded, as all of the ten Yichen's stared at him with expressions of annoyance similar to the real one, which was rather awkward.
"You stupid monkey? Why are you using me for this demonstration?" one of the Yichen asked, and Bai Jiu pointed at him, immediately.
"That's the real one," he replied without thinking, knowing that Yichen would say it without hesitation. Zhu Yan looked at Bai Jiu and smiled.
"Are you sure?" he asked as Bai Jiu looked at "his" chosen older brother and hesitated for a moment. He was identical in every way: posture, presence, familiarity, the way he returned their gaze and crossed his arms in annoyance. Looking at the others, they all looked and felt exactly the same.
Ying Lei could recognize the real one behind Zhu Yan, but he wasn't the one who had spoken earlier. To be honest, the real Yichen was so outraged that he couldn't utter a word. However, when Bai Jiu pointed to the Yichen on his left, he was surprised, as were some others, to see that they were also imitating him.
Yixuan could also recognize his brother, for he knew him better than anyone, having grown up and trained together, and also because of the bond that united them. Although they all looked and even felt the same, there was one key difference between them. His brother's life force was intertwined with theirs and pulsed through the threads that connected them, strong and vibrant, with his vitality at its peak.
"Xiao Jiu, my brother, is the one right behind Zhu Yan. Their resemblance is astonishing, physically speaking, but we are connected by a spell, so if you look closely, you can sense the real one trough the link," Yixuan explained the simplest way to distinguish a friend from an enemy. However, Li Lun understood the danger of relying on their bond for this purpose, since, in reality, their bond was meant to protect them from instant death by sharing the damage around them, but it was useless in preventing a demon from copying it, even if the demon couldn't use it.
"Zhuo Yixuan, it's certainly clever of you to use our bond to identify imposters, and if we were facing mid-level demons, I would have commended you for it. However, humans understand very little about high-level demons, as they are rare even in the Forest of Convergence. A fox demon is undoubtedly one of the most cunning of our kind and quite difficult to face, but even fox demons have different levels, depending on how many tails they grow. I heard about the fox demon Wen Xiao mentioned from someone else, and let me tell you, it barely had three tails. If a nine-tailed demon were born in the forest and Zhu Yan had never guard the gate, humanity would be annihilated so easily they wouldn't even realize what was happening. No demon hunter without cultivation, can face one and survive. Its fox fire alone could reduce the forest itself to ashes, along with the Citadel and all the surrounding cities, including Tiandu. To be honest, humans have been lucky that the demons that cultivate in this forest are mostly low- or mid-level, with only the occasional high-level one. Also that he was so afraid of Zhu Yan, that he fled to human cities and stayed there, killing a few humans in ten years..." Wen Xiao glared at Li Lun in anger after hearing that.
"Fifty-five people is not a few humans!" She exclaimed, unable to contain herself.
"Oh? Let me give you a reality check, then. A nine-tailed demon can annihilate an entire city, all by himself, in a single night, with just a snap of his fingers? How many inhabitants did a city like Tiandu have? Do the math and multiply that by ten years, and now tell me if I'm right. In ten years, that single demon could exterminate humanity a thousand times over. Let me give you an example of what a true high-level demon can do." Li Lun used his own demonic power this time, and after the dark blue cloud of his energy dissipated, they found themselves surrounded by dozens of copies of each one of them, all replicated to perfection down to the smallest detail, and, more importantly, all reflecting the pulse of their bond at an incredible level.
Yixuan, of course, was stunned. He could only distinguish his brother Yichen among the fakes, for their bond was deeper than the one provided by the spell. It was a natural bond, born from sharing the same blood, and becoming so accustomed to their energy, that recognizing it was like breathing. However, this only applied to his younger brother, as he was unable to distinguish the forgers from the genuine ones in anyone else. For the others that didn't share blood ties, there was no way to distinguish anyone at all.
"A high-level shapeshifting demon can see through bonds too. It is an innate ability they cultivate for centuries until they perfect it. Let me tell you something else. Demons see beyond the flesh. That's why most demons can identify the cultivation level of other demons, and that's why both Zhu Yan and I must suppress our demonic energy to lower levels, and avoid using our true power, which would give us away from miles around. Wen Xiao, I don't mean to disrespect human life, but despite the knowledge accumulated throughout history, it barely stirs the surface of an infinite ocean. The reason the gods fight against the demons drags on for so long, was precisely because demons cultivate to levels that rival their own. So don't make the mistake of underestimating them, or it might be the last thing you do. Zhu Yan, you shouldn't be lenient with them, as that might lead them to mistakenly believe they have the upper hand, when they don't." Li Lun looked at Yixuan, who understood his hidden message of 'don't make that mistake,' clearly reflected in his beautiful eyes.
"So, if a demon can copy us so accurately, how will we know who is the real one and who is the impostor?" Pei Siheng asked the two great demons, having no idea how to resolve this question.
"Even if a demon can copy the feeling of our bond, that doesn't mean it can use it as we do. We can use our will, as we were told before, to test whether one of us is the imposter. But Li Lun had a good point and we should not underestimate the capabilities of high level demons. I think the previous suggestion, Commander Pei talk about, is the best and we need to experience what we're truly up against on this mission, and find our own way to deal with whatever comes our way. We also can't rely on the great demons to overcome every obstacle." Yixuan said and looked at Zhu Yan next.
"Zhu Yan, please, prepare a training for us that closely resembles the power of real demons. Make it as difficult to deal as it would be in reality, so we can thoroughly prepare for the battles ahead. It will be for our best to hit the stone head on, instead of avoiding it, and be slammed later without a way out." Yixuan demanded, and seeing the rest of the group nod in agreement, the great demon sighed.
"Then, prepare yourselves for true hell," Zhu Yan warned them as he performed a hand seal, followed by a complex spell that drastically transformed everything around them, leaving them momentarily confused, as they absorbed the new reality.
The place was as vibrant as anything they had seen before in the demon world, and it seemed all too real. They could see strange plants and trees swaying in the gentle breeze, but the atmosphere was oppressive, as if a hidden force were trying to catch them by surprise. Everything around them seemed poised to hunt them down, and every step they took was watched, making the tension palpable.
Their instincts kicked in, and they unconsciously regrouped into the standard demon-hunter formation they knew by heart. Yichen held Yun Guang as they advanced cautiously, as a unit, as demon-hunters, just as they had been before Zhu Yan had appeared in their lives. Their steps were calculated, slow, and silent on the mist-shrouded ground. None of them sensed the nearby presence of the high-level demons, but they knew they could suppress their demonic energy at will.
Yichen brought up the rear of the formation alongside Ying Lei, both scanning their surroundings with sharp eyes, searching for any threat, any misplaced shadow, any sudden movement or noise that could harm them. But despite Yichen's search for potential attacks throughout the forest, he never imagined that danger would emerge from the undergrowth shrouded in purple mist, much less from a seemingly harmless plants with large red flowers that suddenly showered them with toxic pollen.
The forest seemed to suddenly spring to life, and what they thought was solid ground was covered in countless vines and roots. As they inhaled the pollen-laden air, which felt like fire, their feet were seized and pulled with such force that even Yichen, who had skillfully escaped Li Lun's vines during their previous training, could now only try to grab hold of something to slow his momentum.
"Yun Guang!" Yichen cried, feeling as if he were about to burst into flames. His sword obeyed, slicing through the vines that held his feet with a swift movement, freeing him. Yun Guang then assumed his human form and placed a hand on his master's chest. With a burst of energy, he expelled the toxins from the inhaled pollen, causing Yichen to vomit, while the healing energy of their bond began to work on his burning throat. The others were in a similar predicament, so Yichen ignored the sharp pain and rushed after Ying Lei, who was closest to where the vines had dragged him.
The young man had used a seal as a shield, cutting through the vines and protecting himself from further attacks, while he also used his internal energy to expel the toxins from his body.
"Ying Lei!" Yichen shouted as he helped him to his feet.
"Damn it! This is the worst I've ever felt in my entire life as a demon hunter. Xiao Zhuo, let me tell you, your lover is a hundred times worse than Li Lun at training..." Ying Lei complained, as his insides ached in burning pain. However, if this was even a tenth of what things were really like in the demon world, then Li Lun was right, and they were all far too arrogant to think they could kill nine high-level demons when mere plants could inflict them so much damage.
"We asked for this, and to be honest, it's better to face it beforehand, because encountering this kind of aggression simply by entering a forest in real life would have killed us right at the gates of the demon world. Let's find the others," Yichen urged, and they ventured deeper into the forest to help and reunite with the rest.
As they struggled to rejoin the rest of the unit, scattered throughout the forest, they fought relentlessly against things they never expected to encounter, making it difficult to simply run to find their comrades. Ying Lei even exhausted a great amount of his energy creating shields as they raced to find Bai Jiu as quickly as possible, while Yichen used his ice energy to freeze vines and branches before they could ensnare them again. For them, it was a fight for survival, no longer training, as everything around them, from the oppressive atmosphere to the pain they felt when they were wounded, was all too real.
At some point, Yixuan also joined them as they raced through the living forest, and they soon found Bai Jiu covered in green vines that were feasting on his energy. Ying Lei was genuinely frightened when he saw his young boyfriend looking so pale, so he cut through the vines and cast his most powerful barrier spell to transfer some of his energy to him and compensate for what he had lost.
"Ge... this... this is worse than we imagined..." Yixuan was breathless from all the fighting and running, and Yixuan wasn't any better, even with the power of two gods.
"We truly underestimated the demon world. Now that we know everything around us is a death trap, we must find a way to defeat it. Ying Lei, how is Bai Jiu?" Yixuan asked, and Ying Lei answered without even looking at him, focused on healing him.
"He's exhausted, and even though the bond is healing him, it's not fast enough for him to recover and be able to face an entire forest. I'm transferring some of mine to him to speed the process. In a situation like this, it's best if you two go find the Commander, her brother, and Wen Xiao. My barrier can hold off the attacks for a while, so go rescue the others before it's too late. I know this is supposed to be training, but if Zhu Yan is serious about it, we should be too." And both brothers agreed.
"Go, Xiao Zhuo Ge... I'll be fine..." Bai Jiu's weak voice wasn't exactly reassuring, but at least he was conscious now.
"Yichen..."
"Ge, I trust Ying Lei's strength to create barriers; he's the best among us, as solid as the mountains from where he comes from. After all, he's a descendant of Kulun, and I know he won't let Bai Jiu die on his watch." Yichen's confidence in his friend's skill was reassuring, and Yixuan closed his eyes to sense the life force of the rest of the unit, locating them not far away, to the west of their position.
"Alright, we'll be right back," Yixuan agreed. But before leaving the barrier, he cast a spell to strengthen it even further. Then, the two brothers ran frantically toward their comrades.
Separately, the Zhuo brothers were a formidable force, but together they were lethal. They sliced through vines, trees, plants, branches, insects of all kinds, and anything else in their path with lightning precision, already adapting to the hostile environment and even channeling energy into their feet to dispel the purple mist that concealed the vines underground. They moved swiftly, and once they reached the other three, who were fighting for their lives, they annihilated everything there too, and rushed back to Ying Lei and Bai Jiu to regroup inside their barrier.
"This is troublesome. How are we supposed to fight high-level demons and nature at the same time? Does anyone know of a spell that can immobilize an entire forest? Because we'll need it, and we'll have to keep it immobilized for who knows how long." Pei Siheng was just as worried by this sudden revelation as the others.
"I'm sure Li Lun, as a tree demon, can handle the forest, but since he's not here for this training, we'll have to find another way to repel this threat," Ying Lei pointed. Howevers as the others discuss their current predicament, something unsettled Yixuan as he watched outside the golden barrier.
Yes, the forest seemed to be coming alive, and vines were lunging at the barrier, trying to push them out. They were in an unfamiliar place, filled with palpably tainted demonic energy, which made everything around them seem alive, but to such a degree that it felt almost unreal. Demonic energy was also present in the Forest of Convergence through the gate, but the forest itself was relatively safe, with the obvious exception of the numerous demons that lurked within it. There were tree demons there too, not to mention plant demons, but these weren't particularly strong, so why were the two worlds so different?
The answer was that the demon world possessed a greater amount of tainted energy, allowing more living beings to cultivate it, including a forest. Yet, there was far too much life inside. It was as if each plant in the forest had cultivate for centuries, acquiring its own consciousness and becoming a lethal weapon for any demon who ventured into it. This made no sense to his human mind. Li Lun had entered and left that place unharmed. Yes, he was a great demon, so the lower-level demons feared him, and he could even travel great distances in his leaf form, but still...
"Is this an illusion?" He wondered aloud, as he scanned the forest.
"Ge? What is it?" Yichen asked, approaching him, and Yixuan used his golden eyes to try to scan the surroundings.
When Zhu Yan's dimension shifted, the first thing that attacked them was a shower of gigantic red flowers that covered them in fiery pollen, and then the forest sprang to life. Was the pollen making them imagine everything they did after inhaling it? His golden eyes usually could see through illusions, but everything there had been created by Zhu Yan, so he couldn't see through his divine skill in creation. Then... he used hand seals to cast a dispelling spell with his golden aura that seemed to halt all activity in the forest, as they lay on the ground covered in purple dust.
"What the hell?! Was it all an illusion?" Bai Jiu asked in astonishment as he found himself covered in pollen, lying on the ground in the same spot where they had took their unit formation. This meant they had never moved from there, not even being dragged by draining vines or running through the forest fighting for their lives.
Seeing that it was all a side effect of the pollen from some flowers, Yichen nearly burst out laughing.
"He warned us that this was more than just a brute-force struggle; it was also a mental battle. Zhu Yan... you proved it so convincingly that I never doubted it..." he whispered, breathing in the oppressive air. Yet, he felt no burning sensation, even though they were covered in purple pollen.
They had failed in their very first test and that was harder to swallow than any imaginary fire pollen and burned hotter than it did in their illusion.
"Baobei, don't be mad with me..." Yichen heard Zhu Yan's voice whisper in his ear. He felt himself lying on his lap; though he couldn't see him, he felt the warmth of Zhu Yan's hands holding him. They were still inside an illusion he had created, but feeling him through Zhu Yan's spell brought him comfort instead of anger.
"I'm not mad... this was the right thing to do..." Yichen murmured as he looked at his brother, who also seemed to be supported by an invisible force that he assumed was Li Lun, and he smiled. As a child, Yixuan had been his hero, and as a young man, he still was.
AN: Sorry for the delay, many things keep me distracted and heartbroken, (🕯️🐟, if you know what that means), but I'm here now. Thanks for reading and I hope you like this one, even if doesn't have fluff.