Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon

At this moment, Lin Xiaoyao had long since reached the depths beneath the earth.

He was not far from the end of the legendary Heart-Refining Path.

Since he had already come this far, he naturally had no intention of giving up halfway. He intended to investigate it thoroughly.

To see what secrets lay hidden here, and whether this could become another place where he could sign in and reap the wool.

So if there truly was danger, then whether for the sect's safety or his own interests, as long as it lay within his power, he would act to resolve this crisis.

Lin Xiaoyao's steps were unhurried, but his gaze was fixed on the deepest part of the underground Heart-Refining Path. Perhaps something interesting really was sealed there.

He did not stop walking and continued forward.

Before long, he arrived at the end of the Heart-Refining Path.

A gigantic formation came into view.

Within that formation, layer upon layer of seals trapped an enormous iceberg over a hundred zhang tall.

The iceberg's surface was wrapped in thick iron chains, each as wide as a bowl's mouth, and plastered with countless restriction talismans of every color. Even more astonishing was this—

Around the iceberg floated a bronze bell, an ancient mirror, and a small bronze cauldron.

All three treasures shone brilliantly with spiritual light.

As the three formation cores, they firmly suppressed the enormous iceberg in the center.

"Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasures!"

Lin Xiaoyao raised an eyebrow. Over the past year or so, he had signed in every day, rain or shine, and naturally acquired all manner of treasures.

Among them, he had obtained more than a dozen Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasures, yet he treated them as worn-out shoes.

Possessing the Saint Fruit Position, he truly had no use for such things.

But to ordinary cultivators, Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasures were treasures one could encounter only by chance, never seek by choice. Even Great Vehicle Realm cultivators would attach great importance to them.

Yet there were three of them here, all being used as formation cores.

Together with the countless other seals, what was being suppressed here became truly worth pondering.

Lin Xiaoyao was very interested.

He looked up.

Yet he discovered that the enormous iceberg was completely empty, containing only a wisp of black qi.

"This is..."

His eyes narrowed as he prepared to look more closely.

Crack!

A sound of shattering entered his ears. A fissure had actually appeared across the surface of that hundred-zhang iceberg.

Then, a streak of black stained the snow-white iceberg. The black rapidly spread, soon covering the entire surface of the mountain of ice.

"Hahahaha! Thirty thousand years! A full thirty thousand years! At last, a foolish immortal cultivator has come here."

Wild laughter rang in his ears. That wisp of black qi had followed the crack and emerged from the iceberg.

"Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon!"

A trace of surprise appeared on Lin Xiaoyao's face as well.

"You actually recognize me?"

The laughter came to an abrupt halt, its voice carrying a hint of astonishment.

Lin Xiaoyao did not answer. Ordinary Nascent Soul Realm immortal cultivators naturally could not recognize an Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon, but for him, it was easy to see through one at a glance.

"My arrival makes you very happy?"

he said blandly.

"Indeed. I have been suppressed here for thirty thousand years, yet the seal has not loosened in the slightest. Though I can move freely within this great formation, I cannot leave it."

"A while ago, a foolish boy came here. I had intended to lure him in, but unfortunately..."

When the other party reached this point, Lin Xiaoyao naturally understood. It had been Liang Xiaotian, who had come to challenge the Heart-Refining Path several days ago. So the abnormal changes here truly were related to the Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon before him.

"But it does not matter. Today, you have come here as well. Though your Nascent Soul cultivation is still very low, you are at least somewhat better than that Golden Core Realm brat."

"Will you obediently surrender, or will you foolishly insist on resisting?"

The Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon's voice brimmed with excitement.

Escaping his predicament was already cause for great joy. What was more, he could even play a game of cat and mouse.

"What do you want to do, possess my body?"

Lin Xiaoyao saw through his purpose at once. "Are you sure you can manage it?"

"Little fellow, you are very confident."

The Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon sneered. "A newborn calf fears not the tiger. If you were a Great Vehicle Realm cultivator, perhaps I would not be so certain."

"But how could a mere junior in the Nascent Soul Realm possibly resist me?"

The Outer-Realm Heavenly Demon was not bluffing. He was simply stating a fact.

Even if a Mystic Profound Realm cultivator, second only to the Great Vehicle Realm, came here, taking over their body would still be effortless for him.

"Since you do not intend to surrender obediently, this Demon Venerable will have to act personally."

Though this demon also wished to toy with the mouse, delay bred change. He therefore decided to cut through the mess with a swift blade.

The moment his words fell—

Boom!

In the next instant, endless demonic qi surged forth.

In but a moment, this place had turned into a demonic domain. Pitch-black demonic qi filled the space around Lin Xiaoyao, as if it wished to swallow him whole.

From the sky, from the ground, from every direction, countless Magic Beasts emerged.

Some were vast as mountain ranges, stretching beyond the eye's reach. Others were as tiny as mosquitoes and ants. Yet every one of them was incomparably ferocious. They blotted out the heavens and covered the earth, rushing toward him wave after wave.

It seemed both illusory and real, like an illusion yet as though everything were genuine. The myriad worlds of heaven, every grain of sand and mote of dust, could transform into a vast world.

Facing such a terrifying scene, let alone a Nascent Soul Cultivator, even if the Feathering Sect's sect master came in person, his Dao heart would likely be clouded with dust and his mind violently shaken.

And this was the technique at which Outer-Realm Heavenly Demons excelled most. So long as the slightest gap appeared in one's thoughts, life or death would fall into their hands.

As for possessing a body, that would be even easier.

He looked at Lin Xiaoyao without the slightest emotion in his expression.

What was there to say to a dead man?

The instant this youth stepped into this place, his ending had already been decided.

Yet to his surprise, Lin Xiaoyao seemed not to sense the danger at all. He continued walking toward him, neither hurried nor slow.

No spiritual pressure or magical power leaked from his body. He seemed like nothing more than an ordinary person who had accidentally wandered in here.

But in the next instant, something unbelievable happened.

The ferocious Demonic Beasts that had rushed close suddenly seemed to have been frightened. One after another, they hesitated and dared not advance.

Lin Xiaoyao continued forward.

The Demonic Beasts charging at the forefront had actually prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling as though antelopes and hares had encountered the king of beasts on patrol.

No, not the king of beasts.

Lin Xiaoyao took another step.

Hummm...

It was as though the tolling of a great bell reverberated through the air.

The world before them actually collapsed.

That terrifying demonic domain and endless demonic qi vanished into nothingness at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Yet around the youth, flat peach blossoms bloomed, spiritual herbs shot up, white cranes danced, Phoenixes perched upon parasol trees, and misty immortal qi evolved into endless worlds...

Streams of laws descended around his body.

"This..."

The heavenly demon intending to possess him had long since frozen in place. Looking at the youth before him, his eyes were filled with terror. "Could it be... could it be that you are a legendary True Immortal?"

"A True Immortal?"

The youth sighed. His voice carried a touch of calmness and a touch of desolation. "I ceased being at such a low realm long ago!"