Exorcist's Self-Cultivation

Whether it was Du Wei or the Evil Spirit Du Wei.

They had both used the face-changing mechanism more than once.

The difference was,

when Du Wei used it, he was forcefully pushing it.

Or rather, he was simply repeating the process of the Evil Spirit Du Wei's face-changing mechanism.

In contrast, for the real owner,

this ability in its hands was brought to its utmost limit.

This member of Solomon's Seventy-Two Pillars Demon Gods, merged into its body, extending toward the mask pattern on the back of the hand, trying to assimilate and contaminate it.

But the Evil Spirit Du Wei didn't care.

It now wanted to give itself a new face.

To lock itself and the Demon God together inside the mask.

But to be precise,

it wasn't becoming the Masked Evil Spirit again.

Rather, it was temporarily using another method to make a member of the Seventy-Two Pillars Demon Gods become part of it.

Because the Evil Spirit Du Wei was actually Du Wei.

After the fusion, there was no conceptual distinction.

The two were essentially one person using different identities, postures, and means to perform two different existences.

They were one and the same.

One side chose to remain silent.

The other dominated everything.

When the silent side awakened, and the two became one, that was the complete Du Wei.

The Evil Spirit Du Wei didn't even need an external force.

Nor did it need items like a dagger.

It just stretched out its right hand and pressed it against the mask on its face.

The mask pattern on the back of its hand had already become exceedingly clear, deeper than before, and still changing.

Once,

Du Wei always felt that the Evil Spirit Du Wei might be connected to a Demon God, with a terrifying presence hidden behind it.

The Evil Spirit Du Wei thought so too.

But now,

it denied everything.

Its power came only from itself.

It was its own god.

"Let it end…" the Evil Spirit Du Wei said last.

Everything, came so simply and directly.

After it finished speaking, the whole world was covered in darkness.

Only the mask pattern on the right hand was quietly changing, subtly forming an eerie symbol that seemed to represent the ocean.

And on the white mask worn on its face, at the corner of the right eye, the same symbol appeared.

Just as it said,

it was over.

…

In the darkness,

prolonged breathing sounds rose…

Du Wei let out a sigh of utter exhaustion, "It's over."

He looked around, and everything was endless.

He reached out and touched the mask on his face.

His heart was filled with fatigue, and the discomfort of not being able to adjust after the tension of sustaining his spirit was released.

People have limits.

He had one too…

This was the first time Du Wei directly confronted a member of Solomon's Seventy-Two Pillars Demon Gods.

It was indeed over.

But in his heart, an even stronger sense of powerlessness emerged.

Becoming the Evil Spirit Du Wei, facing the Demon God.

Although he ultimately won, the energy spent and the temporary downtime of the Evil Spirit Du Wei made him feel a sense of loss.

"I really want to rest now."

"I'm very tired…"

Du Wei often felt weary at heart,

but he had never spoken about it.

This time was an exception.

Moving forward in the darkness,

Du Wei indifferently scanned everything around him, but he saw nothing.

"Indeed, that Victorian era was just a repetition of the past."

"What exactly is the relationship between the so-called Duke Du Wei and me?"

"I haven't seen him, whether it's becoming Evil Spirit Du Wei or becoming me, I do not acknowledge his existence."

"If that's the case, then who am I really?"

At this point.

Du Wei suddenly shook his head, saying with certainty, "I am Du Wei."

"This world doesn't need Duke Du Wei."

"Nor could I possibly be the reincarnation of someone else."

He could always remain calm and rational.

Therefore.

He could deduce an answer more fitting to him from the information already known.

Just then.

Du Wei suddenly heard the voice of Minette.

"...don't leave..."

He abruptly turned around.

But what he saw was as if an illusory world had appeared behind him.

In that world.

He saw Minette, crying sorrowfully, embracing a man's corpse, sitting helplessly sobbing on the altar.

The long sword that was originally twisted into pieces was intact, stuck in the ground.

Beside it, others were bowing their heads in silent mourning.

Each person's face was filled with sadness.

Among them, Corrine Dowqui said, "Ladies and gentlemen, forget this past. His Excellency the Duke has truly died, his body is vanishing, and the concept of him in my mind is also becoming blurry."

The others said, "Only one who is stronger can retain more concepts, but that is pointless because the more we affirm it, the easier it is to awaken it."

"By then, what will appear is not His Excellency the Duke, but a conceptual Demon God."

Two trails of blood tears flowed from Minette's eyes.

She watched as the corpse in her arms gradually vanished, becoming blurrier, about to leave only its contour.

She had reached the pinnacle of despair.

She pulled out the long sword and said, "I won't let you be assimilated by that thing. I will forever become your anchor. When you come back one day, I hope you can still remember my name."

"You rejected me before because you told me I wasn't her."

"But I know that you actually have me in your heart."

"If I had met you earlier, would the person you care about have become me?"

"I think it's unlikely, so you better not remember me."

"But I hope that I can accompany you in another way."

"My Future Sight ability will accompany you, and I hope the next time you awaken, it can keep you away from danger."

Minette thrust the sword into her heart.

Blood spurted out.

The others wanted to stop her, but it was simply too late.

In the end, Minette pulled out the long sword and thrust it into the body that was almost invisible.

Everything ended there.

...

Du Wei looked slightly startled.

He watched as it all turned into light and vanished.

Strangely enough.

He felt a slight pain in his chest.

"If Minette is dead and Duke Du Wei is dead, then what about that prophecy?"

"A girl named Minette will be born into the Wittebach family?"

"Why would the Mask Maker leave behind that prophecy?"

"Alex... is she his reincarnation?"

Du Wei found it hard to breathe.

He touched his own eyes, the power of Future Sight.

He certainly could see visions of death in the future.

But that was completely uncontrollable and couldn't compare to Minette's at all.

Moreover.

He had always thought it was a power derived from the Antique Clock.

"How could this past be mine?"

"She's not her..."

"No, that's not right..."

Du Wei covered his head, letting out a suppressed low growl.

"I have no memory of this, no past like this."

"Minette is Alex."

"Evil Spirit Du Wei might be the duke, but Evil Spirit Du Wei came after me; I have my own independent past."

"It's not because of it that I exist, but because of me that it exists."

"This world, it feels strange to me."