Heart Demon Unextinguished

"You have cultivated for so many years—do you still not understand?" The shadow drifted slowly forward, extending a finger to lightly tap Zhao Gongming between the brows.

"A clear Dao heart is certainly important, but yin and yang beget each other, good and evil coexist—this is the supreme principle of heaven and earth. You keep suppressing your desires and severing your obsessions. Do you think that is cultivation? No, that is castrating yourself."

Zhao Gongming retreated half a step, only to discover there was nowhere left to retreat.

Behind him lay the edge of the reef; beyond it stretched the boundless sea.

"Think about Lei Xiao."

The shadow's voice suddenly turned cold and sinister. "Why does he deserve it? Why is he the personal disciple? He is clearly inferior to you in every respect. And the Three Xiao—they were originally yours..."

"Yes, mine. They were all mine."

The instant Zhao Gongming spoke those words, his gaze changed completely.

That last shred of clarity was like a dying candle in the wind, swaying on the verge of extinction beneath the Heart Demon's seduction. His voice no longer trembled. In its place was the madness of long-suppressed obsession finally breaking free.

"The position of personal disciple was mine."

"The Three Xiao's closeness was mine."

"Those heavenly treasures were mine too."

His voice grew lower and colder, like a sharp blade slowly leaving its sheath, its chill cutting to the bone.

The shadow hovered silently before him. In its pitch-black eyes was reflected Zhao Gongming's twisted face, while the smile on its lips deepened.

The next instant, it shot toward Zhao Gongming. Its entire body transformed into a dense mass of black mist that enveloped Zhao Gongming from head to toe.

"Come—let me become a part of you!"

The shadow's voice exploded within Zhao Gongming's mind. It was no longer seduction, but a command.

Zhao Gongming did not resist.

He spread his arms and raised his head, as though welcoming a baptism he had long awaited. The black mist surged madly into his mouth, nose, ears, and pores, coursing through every limb and bone before merging into his flesh and blood.

Driven by this power, his cultivation began to soar at an astonishing speed.

Late-stage Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, at the peak—

Breakthrough!

Primordial Unity Golden Immortal perfection!

His aura surged explosively, like a volcano dormant for ten thousand years erupting with a thunderous roar.

The sea within a radius of ten thousand li was pressed into a depression by that terrifying aura. Countless sea creatures died in that instant, their corpses floating densely across the water like a layer of white frost.

Within Zhao Gongming's body, demonic qi began to gather toward his sea of consciousness.

Before long, the demonic qi took form in Zhao Gongming's sea of consciousness. Looking at his Primordial Spirit, already sunk into slumber, the Heart Demon burst into laughter.

"Kekeke—"

"From this day onward, this body will be mine."

Black demonic qi spread wildly, occupying more than half the sea of consciousness in an instant.

Zhao Gongming's Primordial Spirit floated quietly at the center of the sea of consciousness, eyes shut and expression peaceful, utterly unaware that it was being devoured bit by bit. The demonic qi was like countless black venomous snakes flooding in from all directions, coiling around the Primordial Spirit's limbs and torso and slowly tightening.

The Heart Demon stood at the edge of the sea of consciousness with his hands behind his back, admiring the scene.

He looked exactly like Zhao Gongming, yet his expression was wholly different—a lofty gaze looking down from above, the satisfaction of a hunter watching prey fall into a trap.

Buzz—

Suddenly, a flash of sword light appeared.

The sword light shone from deep within the space between Zhao Gongming's Primordial Spirit's brows. At first, it was merely a speck of light like a mote of dust, too faint to notice. But in the next instant, it burst forth like a blazing sun breaking through the clouds.

It silently pierced through the churning demonic qi. Wherever it passed, the black mist, claws and fangs bared, melted away and disintegrated like ice and snow beneath the scorching sun.

"What... what is this?!"

The Heart Demon's laughter cut off abruptly. For the first time, fear appeared in its pitch-black eyes. It desperately drove the demonic qi in an attempt to block it, but the sword light ignored every obstacle and slashed directly toward its true body.

The Heart Demon retreated frantically, demonic qi pouring from its body like a tidal wave as it tried to flee this body. But the sword light was too fast—so fast it had no time even to turn a thought.

The sword light swept past.

There was no sound, no blood, no scream.

Like a sand sculpture scattered by the wind, the Heart Demon's body began to crumble bit by bit from its fingertips. Under the sword light's radiance, its countless strands of demonic qi began to melt like snow beneath the blazing sun.

At the same time, Zhao Gongming's Primordial Spirit opened its eyes and looked at the Heart Demon in confusion.

"What happened?"

"Zhao Gongming, stop! If I die, your cultivation will fall back to the late stage of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal. Even your foundation may be damaged because of it."

Zhao Gongming froze.

He lowered his head and looked at his Primordial Spirit, sensing the unprecedented power within his body—Primordial Unity Golden Immortal perfection, only one step away from Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal.

That was the power the Heart Demon had given him, the boon gained through their fusion.

If the Heart Demon died, this power would lose its foundation. Like a tree without roots or water without a source, it would collapse completely.

Zhao Gongming's gaze passed through the disintegrating Heart Demon and fell upon the sword light hovering at the center of his sea of consciousness.

The sword light was not dazzling, yet it contained an aura he knew incomparably well—it was the Sword Qi Tongtian had left for him after taking him as a disciple.

This was his life-saving trump card.

Now that this Sword Qi had already been used, if he killed the Heart Demon and his cultivation fell back to the late stage of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, would that not be a complete waste of his life-saving trump card? It might even damage his foundation.

"The Heart Demon may die, so long as its origin is not erased. Though retaining the Heart Demon's origin will affect my Dao heart somewhat, I need not fear as long as my Dao heart remains firm. Besides, I can use the power of the Heart Demon's origin to charge at Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal."

With a thought from Zhao Gongming, the Sword Qi pierced through the Heart Demon, yet avoided its origin.

The next instant, both the Sword Qi and the Heart Demon vanished, leaving only a mass of pure Heart Demon origin within Zhao Gongming's sea of consciousness.

After sealing the Heart Demon origin deep within his sea of consciousness, Zhao Gongming immediately examined his cultivation. Only when he saw that it had not fallen and remained at Primordial Unity Golden Immortal perfection did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"The appearance of this Heart Demon was not entirely a bad thing. It not only helped me break through, but also allowed me to grasp one of the Heart Demon's divine abilities. However, cultivating this ability requires the death qi and resentment qi left behind after a great number of powerful beings die."

Zhao Gongming frowned in thought. Soon, his eyes lit up. "Not long ago, Eastern Emperor Taiyi fought King of the East. Quite a few powerful beings died, and Purple Abode Island was sunk as well.

"Purple Abode Island was King of the East's Daoist ground. There must be many heavenly treasures on it. If I go there, not only can I cultivate this divine ability, but I may also obtain some heavenly treasures to refine into acquired spiritual treasures."

That battle had shaken the prehistoric world.

Yet the spoils left behind by that battle still lay sunk in the depths of the East Sea, and no one dared claim them.

It was not that they did not want to. They simply did not dare.

The lingering might of Eastern Emperor Taiyi's Solar Divine Fire had yet to disperse. That stretch of sea remained a land of death even now; for ordinary cultivators, approaching it was no different from seeking death.

But Zhao Gongming, having mastered part of the Heart Demon's abilities, was confident that he could enter it safely.