Heavenly Demon Illusion

The four of them were already captivated by the beautiful scene. Huang Tutian even cried out strangely, "Look, all of you! That's Vermilion Fruit, a sacred Daoist treasure. If mortals eat it, they can live a hundred years; if cultivators eat it, it can increase their cultivation. And that's Crystal Fruit, a supreme divine treasure for cultivating the Dao. If Qi Training Realm cultivators take it, it can increase their true essence and magical power by the strength of two flying dragons. Even if we take it, it can nurture our foundation and strengthen our origin, greatly increasing the toughness of our fleshly bodies and allowing us to contain more Innate True Qi, adding to our accumulation for breaking through to the Qi Gathering Stage."

Long Lingyu suddenly screamed, "That's the 'Ageless Fruit'! Legend says that after eating one, you'll never grow old again. For us, that's a rare treasure beyond compare. Once we cultivators age and our qi and blood begin to decline, breaking through to a higher level is almost impossible."

Dongfang Riyue stared at a little horse that was running about, his expression dazed as he said, "Th-that... that's the Ten-Thousand-Year Ganoderma Horse, the legendary king of medicines that can revive the dead and regrow flesh on white bones. Just where is this place? How can even a divine thing like that be here? It's simply unbelievable."

Huang Tutian could no longer hold himself back and was about to rush forward to pick the spirit herbs, but Wang Ding suddenly grabbed him. Having his excitement interrupted naturally left Huang Tutian with a face full of displeasure, but when he saw it was Wang Ding, he knew there had to be a reason, so he steadied himself and said, "Senior Brother Wang Ding, why are you stopping me? Is there something wrong with this place?"

Long Lingyu and Dongfang Riyue also looked toward Wang Ding in astonishment. Just now, they too had been unable to resist the urge to pick the spirit herbs.

At this moment, a purple radiance that no one else could see shot from Wang Ding's eyes. It was the divine sight bestowed upon him by the Mysterious Yellow Undying Great Art, allowing him to see the fortune, merit, and karmic sin of any living being. But the world in his eyes was no longer the beautiful realm of clear mountains and bright waters, immortal fruits and divine treasures, rare treasures and strange beasts everywhere that he had seen when he first arrived. In its place was an incomparably terrifying world.

Every life here revealed countless strands of karmic sin and cause and effect, and the entire world was shrouded in karmic sin. Right now, the four of them were as bright as lamps in the night. Long Lingyu and Dongfang Riyue, in particular, were both people with great fortune; golden fortune essence soared into the sky from them. Wang Ding could clearly see that in the distant reaches, countless black pillars of karmic sin were rushing toward this place. Without even thinking, he knew the countless existences here must have seen the fortune pillars of Long Lingyu and Dongfang Riyue and wanted to come kill the two of them to gain benefits.

Wang Ding said with a dark expression, "This place isn't some blessed land of immortals. It's a dead land of hell. Everyone, be careful. These things you're seeing aren't rare flowers and strange fruits at all. They must be transformations of Heavenly Demons."

The expressions of Long Lingyu, Huang Tutian, and Dongfang Riyue changed as they said, "No way." Though they said that, they no longer dared to act rashly. At this moment, when the three of them looked at those rare beasts and sacred immortal treasures, there was no longer hope in their gazes, only doubtful alarm.

As if Wang Ding had thought of something, he suddenly laughed and said, "The three of you, although there are no treasures or divine goods here for us, there is something no less valuable than them. Do you all want it?"

Long Lingyu looked at Wang Ding and asked curiously, "What is it that can compare to these spirit treasures, strange fruits, and wondrous immortal things?"

With excitement on his face and a sharp gleam in his eyes, Wang Ding said, "Merit. And a great deal of merit—far more than the merit we've gained from killing our way here."

The three of them were startled when they heard this. Then Long Lingyu said doubtfully, "Senior Brother Wang, it isn't that we don't believe you, but I'm truly curious. Why do you know we can obtain merit?"

Wang Ding fell silent for a long while after hearing this, then said, "The three of you are not outsiders now, so I'll tell you this secret. But I hope you'll keep it confidential."

Dongfang Riyue, Long Lingyu, and Huang Tutian hurriedly said, "We will definitely keep it secret. Please clear up our confusion, Senior Brother Wang Ding."

With a mysterious smile on his face, Wang Ding said, "I was actually born able to see the merit possessed by living beings. Ever since we entered this alternate space within Heavenly Void, each time we killed those monsters along the way, merit would appear out of thin air and enter our bodies. That's why I'm certain we will obtain merit."

After hearing Wang Ding's words, the three of them could not help being deeply envious. Long Lingyu said with shock on her face, "Senior Brother Wang Ding truly has good fortune. You can actually see the power of merit. As far as I know, legend says only those who have attained the position and karma of a heavenly immortal and developed heavenly immortal divine eyes can possibly see the existence of merit. It seems that on your future path of cultivation, Senior Brother Wang Ding will surely turn calamity into blessing, accumulate merit, and become an immortal and achieve the Dao sooner rather than later."

Wang Ding laughed twice and said, "The three of you need not be envious. From now on, as long as we carry out more missions together, naturally all of us will have chances to accumulate merit." The meaning beneath his words was naturally that he hoped the four of them could stick together and support one another.

The other three were also shrewd people. Hearing Wang Ding's words, how could they not understand the meaning within? Now that the four of them had obtained the Heavenly One Orthodoxy together and killed Ice Prince, they were already grasshoppers on the same rope. Now that they also knew Wang Ding possessed an innate extraordinary ability that could help them all attain the Dao, an alliance between the four of them naturally came together as smoothly as water flowing into a channel.

After forming their alliance, Wang Ding said, "The three of you, let's begin killing these Heavenly Demons. I can sense that many Heavenly Demons are already coming from afar. We'll clear out what's in front of us first, then make preparations to welcome a great battle and earn merit."

After Wang Ding finished speaking, he took the lead in bringing out his Magic Tool and blasted it toward the "rare beasts and strange fruits" not far away that were still poking their heads around. Boom, boom rang out immediately after.

In an instant, the world before them was churned into a black expanse. After that one strike, the boundlessly beautiful world immediately changed its appearance. The rare beasts that had been leaping about and the immortal-grade lingzhi treasures covering the ground had now become chunks of flesh, piece after piece, with no concrete shape. They were like lumps of rotting meat, emitting a foul stench as they rolled toward the four of them. A mass of rotten flesh suddenly sprang up, splitting into two halves in midair. Long Lingyu looked carefully and realized it had not split into two halves at all; rather, the rotten flesh had become a huge mouth, with savage fangs and a tongue covered in fleshy spikes. Goosebumps instantly rose all over her body.

Facing the huge mouths lunging at them, the four of them did not dare be careless. Each brought out their Magic Tools and blasted them. Boom, boom. Flesh and blood flew everywhere. One huge mouth after another let out "ji—hiss, ji—hiss, ji—hiss" cries so unpleasant they could kill. But just as Wang Ding and the other three were getting into the killing, the four of them suddenly felt their heads grow dizzy, and hallucinations appeared. What appeared before their eyes was no longer monsters, but the thing each of them most wanted to obtain.

What appeared before Wang Ding was himself seated upon a precious throne, looking down upon all living beings beneath heaven and earth. He himself was the heavens, was the Dao, ruling over everything. Heaven and earth existed for him; he was god. He felt that he possessed endless power, and with only a wave of his hand, he could turn everything to flying ash.

That feeling of controlling everything almost caused Wang Ding to sink into intoxication, but in the next instant, he jolted awake. He remembered that he had clearly been fighting those unknown Heavenly Demons, so how could he have appeared here? At once, he punched forward with all his strength, and the illusion shattered in an instant.