Evil Samurai In Cultivation World

"So in short, no one really knows how to defeat the mind demon?" Claude asked as he turned around, and in his hands was a large book of perhaps two hundred pages that he had finished reading and passed it to Senior Beldon, who was sitting on the other side of the table.

"Well, you could look at it that way, I guess.." Senior Beldon said with a bitter smile as he collected the book from Claude's hands and placed it on the top of the bundle of books that were next to him. "But the point is that everyone has a different mind demon to conquer, and everyone's method of defeating their demons are going to be very different."

"No, I understand that point very well.l, senior." Claude said as he shrugged his shoulders. "But the book didn't provide me with anything more than just that. I mean, you're telling me that there isn't even a single similarity between the techniques used by the cultivators who took the closed seclusion test?"

"Well, the mind is a complicated place that is filled with infinite possibilities," Senior Beldon replied with a smile as he got up from his chair and grabbed the pile of books to place it back on the bookshelf. "One can try and make up a list of every single thing that he could dream up while he was inside of the mystical realm, and it would still only amount to a fraction of what is actually possible."

"With all due respect, senior brother, your philosophical answers aren't helping me find a solution to defeat the mind demon, which is what I was originally intended on finding out," Claude said as he let out a heavy sigh. 

He then got up from his wooden chair as well and headed over along with Randall to the guest room, where the bookshelves were.

"Junior brother Claude, according to what I've read, the mind demon, although described by most people as an extremely powerful and terrifying creature within the mystical realm, is still a manifestation within your mind." Randall turned and looked at Claude and said, as he began placing the books in their respective places. "So I'm guessing it's real weakness would be in places where you're the most vulnerable."

"But how would I defeat a monster that has the ability to control the literal surroundings itself?" Claude asked, and Senior Beldon simply waved his hands in the air as a reply to his question. "Like I said before, even though he might be a terrifying monster within the mystical realm, it is still inside your head. Take advantage of it, I guess."

"You do realise that your answer is still extremely vague and pointless, right?" Claude looked at his senior with his eyebrows raised, and Senior Beldon chuckled. "I can only give you ideas, alright? I can't give you accurate answers for something I don't know just because you expect me to. And in this case, all I can say is; try stuff out."

He then placed the last book on the bookshelf and turned to face Claude and said, "The people who fought the mind demon and won were able to morph their surroundings in the end to suit their needs. One cultivator was able to transform his surroundings when he was in contact with the mind demon, however, many have tried that since then, and yet most have failed. So all I can tell you is to try thinking about morphing your surroundings every now and then. Get creative. Who knows, maybe it'll work."

"Get creative, huh?"

Slash!

As the sharp blades of his katana sliced through the evil creature's neck from the side, cutting the corpse's head cleanly from its neck, Claude couldn't help but remember the conversation he had with his senior, and he shook his head.

'I've been imagining about changing the surroundings for quite a while now, and nothing seems to be working..' Claude couldn't help but curse at his senior in his mind as he couldn't get any results. However, he knew that his senior wasn't really at fault. The mystical realm was, after all, a very bizzare place that didn't obey the rules of the real world. You could only make assumptions about such a rare and weird place, especially since not many have attempted to explore more about this realm.

"You didn't think that would be enough now, did you?" After a few minutes of no movements, the mouth of the corpse's head moved and opened its eyes, looking at Claude with an evil grin.

'And now I have to deal with this guy again...' Claude was looking at the grinning demon in front of him with an annoyed expression on his face, when all of a sudden, his eyes widened with surprise.

'Is his eyes… shining green?' It was not exactly bright, but the corpse's eyes were, in fact, lightly shining. 

'Wait, the demon usually morphs its surroundings the moment he's injured or in a dire state,' Claude remembered the times when the mind demon changed its surroundings, and realised that he might be about to change his surroundings yet again. So was the eyes shining green signalling him utilising his power?

'Perhaps the issue wasn't imagination, but timing and intent?' Suspicious, Claude decided to focus hard and think about what the mind demon's real weakness might be.

Claude knew that the mind demon, although an evil creature, was still a manifestation of his mind, which meant that it was a part of himself. 

'It has only shown me the warped memories of my previous life as well...' Claude wondered why that was. Perhaps it was because he was still not over his wife's death? Or perhaps he had yet to completely grieve about the loss of his mother?

Claude shook his head after thinking about it. 'It couldn't be. After all, I had accepted both of their deaths quite a while ago, and had come to terms with it already.' 

If so, then what might be the reason for it showing him his previous life?

'Could it be?' All of a sudden, Claude gripped the head tightly, causing the mind demon to feel as though something was off. Claude stared at the severed head with an indifferent expression and then turned his gaze towards the surroundings.

"I knew it," As he muttered under his breath, an evil grin appeared on his face. As he began imagining about the mind demon's weakness, Claude could see the surroundings slowly morphing to his wish.

'It's not about location, but rather more about intent and timing.' Claude thought to himself. All this time, he had been imagining different locations within his memories as the morphing was related to the changing of the surroundings. But instead, he was supposed to find out the true intent of the mind demon and what it represents, and imagine it, and that would automatically change the surroundings.

Claude then looked at the severed head and spoke. "I told you, didn't I? That I'm about to end it."

"This is my world, human. What do you think you can do?" The severed head looked at Claude with a smug expression, and Claude responded with an equally smug expression. "Well, it might be your world, but it is still inside my mind."

BZZZ!

All of a sudden, the surroundings began to warp, which resulted in a look of confusion on the severed head's face. Claude ignored the surroundings and continued talking. "And I think I might've just found out where you are really hiding!"

SSSS!

Claude watched as the surroundings began turning white in colour, and the blood dripping neck of the severed head began to rapidly grow muscles and bones, forming entire body parts in just a few seconds.

Claude watched the whole process with an amused expression on his face, and in less than a minute, the surroundings had changed to a white void, and in it was Claude and the now fully formed body of his mother right in front of him.

"AHHH!!" All of a sudden, his mother screamed loudly in pain, and her belly began to swell rapidly!

"It hurts!" Crying and screaming in agony, the mother looked at Claude in pity, hoping to elicit some sort of response from him. However, Claude simply stood in front of her and watched with an indifferent expression, as if he was waiting for something.

In just a few seconds, her belly had expanded tremendously, now seemingly looking pregnant. The mother, who had now calmed down, looked at Claude with loving eyes as she said, "This is you, isn't it my son?"

Claude walked closer to his mother and kneeled down next to her, nodding his head as he spoke, "Yes, it is mother. That is Sakuto, your son, inside your belly."

He then paused for a second, before contemplating on his words, and continued, "After I reincarnated, I had thought that I had left behind my previous life. And yet, I realised that I have always acted as though I was an outsider to this world, still treating it as though it was my second life, instead of living it like it's my first! Perhaps I thought that it was me being careful, but I've now realized that deep down, I've always been Sakuto first, and Claude second."

He then stood up from his mother's side, and walked to the front, holding his hand high up in the air, as his katana appeared in his grasp. "But that ends today. Goodbye Sakuto."

With that he swung his katana, and it shot down, piercing his pregnant mother's belly and a loud scream burst out from the horrified woman's mouth, echoing throughout the white void.