Yao

"Fck! How… how can there be a demon here?!" Cen Haorong exclaimed as he stared at the black mass of whatever it is behind Duan Yuan. Just watching those 'limbs' that are twisting made all the hairs in his body raise. Goosebumps appeared on his skin just thinking about one of those 'limbs' touch Duan Yuan.

Bai Xueyan's brows are knit since he was also pondering about why a demon would appear in their world. "There are different kinds of yao, but most of them that we are familiar with are the ghosts, the monsters, and some animal spirits or plant spirits like the fox spirits or the flower demons." He spoke. "But, precisely, these flower demons are flower immortals or flower fairies. As for the demons, which is another kind of yao, they are actually a product from all these kinds of yao. In short – " he looked at Cen Haorong who is listening to him closely. " – the demons can come from any kind of living being in the world, including the humans." He said.

Cen Haorong nodded in agreement when he recalled the books that he have read about the demons appearing in the ancient times. "To be more precise, the demons should be something that produces evil." He spoke. "It evokes negative to evil emotions from a living being. For example, a human cultivator is meditating. But, suddenly he was reminded of a bad memory. His meditation went downhill. That bad memory was his heart demon." He explained.

Bai Xueyan hummed in affirmation. "That is right." He muttered. "Demons have many meanings, as they came from many kinds of things. For one, what you said is a bad memory. Another is an obsession." He said as he picked a book from the shelf near them.

"Then… what kind of demon is that one on the screen?" Cen Haorong asked.

"We can't tell yet until we found the evil ghost." Bai Xueyan answered before he made a pause. "Or precisely, before Duan Yuan and the livestream anchor Mo Yu find the evil ghost." He corrected himself.

Cen Haorong sighed. He knows that since they haven't encountered any demon, thus they are not experts about it. "But, leader, you said that there are different kinds of them." He spoke. "Aside from the heart demon, what else are there?" he asked.

Bai Xueyan placed the book on the table. "The heart demon, for one, is a formless demon." He spoke.

"'formless'?" Cen Haorong muttered. "If there is formless… then there is a 'formed' one?" he said.

"Correct." Bai Xueyan nodded as he opened the book. "And these formed demons are what we should be wary of." He said. "The formless ones are the demons that feed off one's emotions in order to live. Although tricky, but if were solved from the root cause, they will disappear. But the formed demons, or the demons that were portrayed in the movies and dramas that looked like monsters… but also sometimes humans… well – " he sighed. " – they are formless demons who have successfully possessed a body." He told Cen Haorong.

Cen Haorong's eyes widened in shock. "'possessed'…" he muttered.

"Mn. That is why formless demons are very tricky since they can do this, too." Bai Xueyan said. "But, these formless demons that possessed someone's body, they are in between formless and formed, since they can still be expelled from the body they possessed. That is, unless they have fully possessed that body, which makes it harder for them to be expelled since it would be killing the owner of the body." He explained.

Cen Haorong noted these down in his mind. "Then, the formed ones?" he asked.

"The formed ones can be those formless demons who have fully possessed a body, making it now their own." Bai Xueyan answered. "But, there are also those formed ones who… were naturally formed." He said as he lowered his gaze.

"'naturally formed'?" Cen Haorong muttered. "What do you mean?" he feels puzzled. Though, he seems to have a vague guess.

"The naturally formed demons are those formless demons who could successfully cultivate their own body." Bai Xueyan spoke. "As for another kind of naturally formed demons… they were transformed." He said.

"'transformed'?!" Cen Haorong was shocked. "But, if they were transformed… wait…" he paused when he thought of something. "To transform means to change one's body… but still, it is still their body. Just that the appearance or any aspect was changed. Thus, it was counted as natural…" he said.

Bai Xueyan nodded and took a deep breath. "That's correct." He said.

Cen Haorong's brows knitted. "Then, how can they be transformed to a demon?" he asked.

Bai Xueyan clenched his fists. "By ingesting something of a demon's." he answered.

Cen Haorong froze, before his mouth fell open in shock. "'ingesting'… you mean blood?!" he exclaimed.

"Yes." Bai Xueyan nodded. His expression is heavy. "Blood is the most sacred thing for the demons, since it also carries within it their essence, or identity. Just like how DNA works." He spoke. "So, after you ingest it, then you will carry with you the essence of the owner of that blood. Of course, you will also obtain some abilities of the owner of that blood." He explained. "But… of course, even if you drink all the blood of that demon, you still won't be able to become that demon. Just… it will make you its 'offspring', even if you were not born from it." He said.

Cen Haorong felt his worldviews were broadened. "I don't know what to say…" he muttered, still digesting all the information that he heard. "No wonder… some characters from movies or drama that I watched would drink the blood of a demon to increase their strength or for them to gain ability!" he said.

"Well… fiction comes from reality, after all." Bai Xueyan muttered as he pushed the book to Cen Haorong.

"Hm? What is this book?" Cen Haorong asked and looked at the cover. "'The Ancient Demons'?" he muttered in surprised when he read the title.