Chapter 2965

Yan Xiwan’s face showed a trace of regret. "It’s a pity. Although the crystal pill furnace works, you yourself seem to be lacking in diligence."

"Why am I lacking in diligence?" The little spirit looked at Yan Xiwan, its expression clearly saying it didn’t want to talk.

Seeing this, Yan Xiwan said, "If you were diligent, you wouldn’t be in this state. You should have your own form, but you insisted on becoming a little spirit. Why?"

Yan Xiwan looked at the spirit with a faint smile. "You’re just trying to scheme for something. But what exactly is it?"

Ignoring the spirit, Yan Xiwan answered her own question. "I suppose it’s something you can only get from us."

She glanced at the spirit. "More accurately, it’s something you can only get from humans."

The spirit’s eyes widened in disbelief. It couldn’t believe Yan Xiwan had seen through it.

Yan Xiwan continued, "You tried to make me absorb that essence earlier. It wasn’t because I absorbed the pure energy, but because there was a trace of another aura mixed in. That aura belongs to you."

"That’s not true," the spirit denied firmly, not wanting Yan Xiwan to discover the truth.

But Yan Xiwan was not someone who could be easily fooled. If she wanted to know, she would find out.

"How is it not true? It’s very likely," Yan Xiwan said seriously, looking at the spirit. "That trace… I didn’t know what it was before, but now I know. It must be the demonic aura belonging to the Black Emperor."

Everyone in the cultivation world knew that the Black Emperor was a demon cultivator who had ascended to godhood.

Because of this, cultivators had gradually accepted demon cultivators as a legitimate path.

However, the Black Emperor’s demonic aura was not something any random demon could obtain.

"Let me guess again," Yan Xiwan continued. "You are a demon, right? You stole a wisp of the Black Emperor’s demonic aura, so you were sealed in this painting. The essence I absorbed contained a tiny bit of that demonic aura. Is that correct?"

Yan Xiwan spoke with a smile, as if it were just a casual guess.

But the spirit opposite her was terrified. It couldn’t believe Yan Xiwan had guessed so accurately.

Yes, Yan Xiwan was completely right. The little spirit was indeed a demon spirit.

As a demon spirit, it could have cultivated slowly. But it had accidentally discovered that the Black Emperor was the one who had silenced it, so it secretly tried to absorb the Black Emperor’s aura.

The Black Emperor’s aura was not easy to absorb. Carelessly, it had taken in too much.

Fortunately, since it was created by the Black Emperor, the Empress saw it and used the crystal pill furnace to suppress its demonic aura. But because of this, its cultivation progress slowed down significantly.

So, it came up with a plan: to convert the fear aura generated by human fear into demonic aura.

Coming to Yan Xiwan’s home had been an accident. It had unintentionally arrived in the Imperial Capital. The capital was filled with dragon aura, and it wanted to devour it. To achieve this, it needed a safe place to hide, so it chose the Yan family.

Then, it discovered that Yan Tieniu and Wang Suyu possessed a mysterious luck. It believed that people with such luck must have someone with great fortune nearby, so it decided to control Yan Tieniu and Wang Suyu.

It rolled them into the painting, and then Yan Xiwan and Ouyang Tianyun arrived.

There was no need to explain further. It realized that Yan Xiwan and Ouyang Tianyun themselves were people with great fortune, so its first thought was to devour their luck.

But whether it was Yan Xiwan or Ouyang Tianyun, their luck was incredibly strong—so strong that it didn’t dare to swallow it directly. So, it planned to make them break down mentally, and then slowly devour their luck.

But the result was that it wasn’t Yan Xiwan and Ouyang Tianyun who broke down, but the demon spirit itself.

It had seen many people and wasn’t inexperienced, but it simply couldn’t handle Yan Xiwan and Ouyang Tianyun.

Now, it was even being threatened by Yan Xiwan. Thinking of this, it felt incredibly wronged.

Yan Xiwan didn’t bother to look at its expression. She said calmly, "My deduction should be correct."

She added, "I can see the answer in your expression. I don’t need to ask you. I am absolutely sure I haven’t guessed wrong."

Ouyang Tianyun, standing nearby, also smiled. "It shouldn’t be wrong."

Yan Xiwan tilted her head, looking at the demon spirit. "Do you have anything else to say?"

"I didn’t actually do anything to harm you," the demon spirit said seriously.

"You indeed didn’t harm us. Not because you didn’t want to, but because you didn’t have time," Yan Xiwan sneered coldly.

Did it really think she was a fool? If this demon spirit hadn’t sensed the high danger level of her and Ouyang Tianyun, would it have been so talkative?

"I…" The demon spirit didn’t know how to respond. It knew Yan Xiwan had clearly seen through it.

Yan Xiwan looked at the demon spirit. "Speak. Since you come from the Divine Realm, why didn’t you cultivate properly? Instead, you’re involved in these evil practices."

Seeing Yan Xiwan’s gaze, the demon spirit finally felt ashamed and angry. "Humans like you simply don’t understand the pain of not being human."

Hearing this, Yan Xiwan remembered when Pei Wushuang had said she wasn’t human, and she couldn’t help but smile.

"Not long ago, people often said I wasn’t human because I was smarter and more capable than them. Now that I think about it, there’s some truth to that. I am indeed much better than them."

After speaking, Yan Xiwan looked at the demon spirit. "I always thought 'not being human' was a compliment. Why does it sound so strange coming from you?"

"It is strange," the demon spirit said dissatisfied. "You think 'not being human' is a compliment? For me, because I am not human, my cultivation started much later than yours."

Yan Xiwan frowned slightly. "Wait, wait. You’d better explain that clearly. What do you mean by 'because you are not human, your cultivation starts much later than ours'?"

The demon spirit glared at her. After a while, it said, "How can you not understand? You look smart, but you’re so stupid."

"Heh," Yan Xiwan glanced at the demon spirit. "You’re smart? If you’re so smart, why did I see through everything you did? If you’re so smart, why did I catch you?"

"I said it, the reason for this result is that I am not human," the demon spirit insisted stubbornly.

"What does being not human have to do with being smart or stupid?" Yan Xiwan was even more confused. She knew that among humans, intelligence and stupidity existed regardless of appearance. They were all human. Yan Xiwan didn’t understand why this demon spirit kept clinging to this point.

The demon spirit said directly, "Don’t think I’m lying. What I say is the truth."

"Fine, I believe you’re telling the truth. Then tell me exactly where the truth lies, otherwise how will I know if you’re telling the truth or lying?"

Yan Xiwan retorted impatiently.

The demon spirit wanted to get angry, but seeing Ouyang Tianyun beside Yan Xiwan, it comforted itself deeply: I won’t get angry, I won’t get angry.

After repeating this a few times, the self-hypnosis seemed to work, so it finally spoke. "Do you know? In this world, humans are the beings with the most spiritual energy and are closest to heaven and earth. Because of this, beings like us who are not human must first cultivate into human form before we can advance further in cultivation."

Yan Xiwan finally understood what the demon spirit meant. "Are you trying to tell me that you’re doing all this mainly because you feel you’re not human, so you’re causing me trouble?"

"That’s exactly it," the demon spirit muttered. "And I never intended to cause you trouble. Don’t talk nonsense."

"Alright, let’s say I’m talking nonsense. But you know the advantages of being human. Do you know the pain of being human?" Yan Xiwan asked in return.

"Is there pain in being human?" the demon spirit asked, puzzled.

Yan Xiwan said calmly, "How could there be no pain in being human? Birth, aging, sickness, and death are all pain.

Ordinary people live for only a few decades. Those who live past a hundred are considered long-lived elders in the mortal realm.

Even if they become long-lived elders, their movements become slow. A slight bump might cause them to fall and die. Their teeth fall out, so they can’t eat certain foods. Their hearing fades, and beautiful sounds drift away from them.

Not to mention old age, even in youth, pain exists from birth.

At birth, adults must protect them. If protection fails, they may die young.

As they grow slightly older, to protect their country and nation, they must learn various knowledge.

They must study every day. Each stage of learning has regular exams. If exam results are poor, they get scolded at home.

When they grow up and find jobs, they must maintain relationships with superiors and colleagues. If they fail, superiors think they are pretentious, and colleagues think they are unreliable.

Once work is stable, they must find a partner and start a new family.

After starting a new family, there are constant bumps and friction. Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea—every item requires effort and thought.

When things are somewhat stable, new life is born, and they must work hard to raise the next generation.

From birth to old age, the pain experienced is countless. But naturally, there is also joy."

Yan Xiwan looked at the demon spirit as she spoke. "Humans became the species with the most spiritual energy in heaven and earth because humans know they must realize their value while alive. Human life is limited, so they need to exert infinite influence within that limited life.

Yan Xiwan looked at the demon spirit with an envious expression. "Actually, I envy species like you who are not human. Because you are naturally long-lived, you don’t have to grieve over birth, aging, sickness, and death."