Wei Ji looked down at the two elders who lay flat on the shattered courtyard stones, their chests rising and falling in uneven, painful waves. The formation still hummed above them, glowing softly like a lazy sun, but it no longer needed to press down with all its force.

The two men were finished.

Their bodies were broken, their cultivations were gone, and their minds wavered on the edge of collapse. They could not stand. They could not fight. They could barely move a finger.

Wei Ji let the silence linger for a moment.

"It looks like it's time for me to make a real move."

He slowly walked toward them, step by steady step, the dust shifting under his feet with each soft sound. His hands were still behind his back, as if he were simply strolling through a garden instead of walking toward two defeated monsters who once terrorized lands.

When he reached them, he crouched, tilted his head slightly, and spoke in a calm, almost gentle tone.

"I thank the two of you for your hard work. It was a relief that both of you are this foolish despite being old… I wonder how the two of you reach your respective cultivation despite being fools… Don't tell me the two only relied on others? Such fools don't deserve such cultivation resources."

Both elders froze, their eyes widening with a mix of fear and confusion. The demonic elder let out a hoarse whisper.

"What… what did you say?"

Wei Ji smiled faintly. "I mean. It's simple. You both made things much easier for me. I'm truly touched that I want to cry…"

The sword elder coughed blood. "You… you dare mock us even now?"

Wei Ji shook his head. "No. I am not mocking you. It is the truth. There's no way I would mock such weaklings like you, let's just say both of you are nothing but ants…"

He slowly placed his palm on the ground, next to their faces, letting his spiritual energy seep into the earth. Runes flickered faintly. The formation gently tightened, like a hand adjusting its grip, and both elders trembled as they felt their limbs grow even heavier.

"I originally planned to drain your spiritual energy myself," Wei Ji said. "But you saved me the effort. You burned everything. You weakened yourselves. You broke your own foundations. Because of that, what I am about to do will be much easier. I didn't even break a sweat yet the two of you made it much easier for me. "

The demonic elder's eyes narrowed as he felt something strange flutter through the air. "What… what do you plan to do?"

Wei Ji looked at him with a calm expression. "I will place a spiritual parasite inside both of you."

Both elders felt their blood run cold.

The sword elder struggled to lift his head. "You… you insane brat… you want to enslave us? Us? After everything we did for our sects?"

Wei Ji nodded once. "That is correct."

The demonic elder hissed. "You cannot place a parasite inside someone of my realm. You lack the skill. You lack the cultivation. You lack the strength. Even with our current state, even if we are crushed, even if we are dying, you will fail."

Wei Ji did not look offended. He rested his forearms on his thighs and leaned forward, speaking softly.

"Maybe under normal conditions. But look at yourselves now."

He lifted his hand, and with a soft gesture, strands of spiritual threads flowed from his fingertips. They twisted through the air like thin vines searching for a target.

Both elders felt a faint pulse inside the threads. A rhythm. A heartbeat. A whisper of something alive.

The sword elder's voice cracked. "That… that is…"

The demonic elder's eyes shook. "Impossible. A living parasite… shaped from spirit energy… that is forbidden."

Wei Ji did not deny it.

"Forbidden does not mean impossible."

He took a deep breath, steadying the dozens of spiritual threads flowing from his hand. They were pale green, almost transparent, like plant roots made of mist.

The elders began to shake violently.

"No," the sword elder rasped. "No, you cannot do that to me."

Wei Ji lowered his hand toward him. "I can."

The demonic elder let out a roar even from the ground. "I will not allow you to use me as your puppet!"

He tried to push himself up, but his arms collapsed beneath him. His spiritual energy, once vast and terrifying, sputtered like a dying flame. He could not stop the formation. He could not stop Wei Ji. He could not even stop the trembling in his own fingertips.

Wei Ji moved his hand closer, and the spiritual threads spread over the sword elder's neck like thin, whispering vines. The man screamed as they touched his skin, but his scream cracked, then broke, turning into a strangled gasp.

The threads did not cut. They seeped.

They seeped into his pores.

The sword elder shook violently as his aura spasmed around him. His voice trembled. "Stop… stop… stop this…"

Wei Ji remained quiet, adjusting the flow of spiritual energy as carefully as a craftsman working with delicate glass. His breathing stayed stable. His expression did not waver.

The demonic elder struggled again, pushing with everything he had left. His eyes were red. His voice raw. "Boy, listen to me… if you do this… the world will hunt you. You will be killed. There are consequences to enslaving elders."

Wei Ji turned his eyes toward him.

"I know."

Then he extended the threads toward the demonic elder as well.

The man's body twisted in pain. He screamed so loud that the stones around him cracked.

The threads slipped through his skin, then deeper, seeking his spiritual veins. The demonic elder fought with every ounce of will left in him. His fingers dug into the earth. His teeth clenched so hard they chipped. His muscles bulged even though he had no strength left.

"Get out of me!" he roared. "Get out!"

Wei Ji did not stop.

He pressed his palm harder to the ground. His spiritual energy pulsed again, spreading the parasite deeper. The threads wrapped around the elders' spiritual cores, what remained of them, like vines climbing a dying tree.

The sword elder cried out, his voice raw. "You… you little monster… why… why are you doing this? Kill us instead!"

Wei Ji answered softly.

"Killing you would be wasteful."

The demonic elder gasped. "No… no, I refuse… I refuse… I refuse to be controlled…"

Wei Ji closed his eyes, feeling the parasite settle. The spiritual threads dug deeper still, breaking apart what was left of their resistance. His brows twitched just a little. Sweat dripped down his neck.

Even weakened, even broken, these two elders had spiritual defenses far beyond ordinary cultivators. They pushed against him. They resisted. They clawed at his threads from within. Their souls shook. Their minds lashed out with killing intent.

But they could not stop him.

Their spiritual energy was too drained.

They had burned too much.

Their bodies were too damaged.

Wei Ji felt the parasite strike the inner node.

Both elders screamed together as if their bones were being ripped out.

Wei Ji's breathing grew heavier. He steadied his hand. He pushed more spiritual force through the threads. The parasite pulsed. It spread its own roots through their spiritual pathways, anchoring itself like a seed drilled into the core of a stone.

The demonic elder's voice broke into sobbing gasps.

"Stop… please… stop… this is worse than death…"

Wei Ji did not flinch.

The sword elder was crying without realizing it, his tears spilling onto the cracked stone. "End me… end me instead… just do not make me a slave…"

Wei Ji's voice was quiet, steady, unwavering. "No."

His threads sank deeper, like roots gripping the soil before a storm.

The elders convulsed. Their fingers clawed weakly at the ground. Their torsos arched off the stone only to slam down again. Their mouths foamed. Their eyes rolled back. The parasite burrowed past the last barrier, attaching itself to their weakened spiritual nodes.

Wei Ji exhaled slowly, letting the flow of spiritual energy settle.

"It will be over soon."

The elders did not answer. Their throats were raw from screaming. Their bodies trembled uncontrollably. Their minds flickered with pain that twisted and burned through them.

Wei Ji tightened the last thread.

The parasite locked into place.

Both elders jerked violently one last time.

Then they collapsed, their breathing ragged and shallow.

Wei Ji finally opened his eyes. The spiritual threads faded away from his hand. He looked down at the two elders who now lay still, powerless, and bound.

He whispered:

"It is done."

The courtyard grew silent.

The formation above dimmed and slowly began to retract.

Wei Ji stood up, dusted his hands, and stepped back, watching their bodies as the final tremors of resistance faded.

The parasite was inside them. Completely.

They belonged to him now.

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