The Demon Cult, Listening Sword Courtyard!
This was the residence of Ye Qinghong, the God-Shocking Sword, the Demon Venerable's eldest disciple.
The night was waning.
He wore a fitted blue-green outfit, his hair tied into a simple ponytail.
He sat cross-legged in the courtyard's bamboo grove.
The Azure Shadow Sword on his back hummed incessantly.
It radiated an aura of profound mystery.
At that moment, she was using her glazed sword heart to hone her Sword Dao.
Cultivation was divided into the third-rank realm, second-rank realm, first-rank realm, grandmaster realm, and great grandmaster realm.
Grandmasters could project their astral qi outward, while great grandmasters attained the threefold summit.
And he was now at the threefold summit.
He had even reached its pinnacle.
Three petals revolved continuously above his head.
Each petal was blue-green.
It was his favorite color.
Normally, he could maintain this state and cultivate for an entire night.
But today, he felt inexplicably unsettled.
Or rather, ever since she returned to the Demon Sect this time, this feeling had grown increasingly severe.
This was utterly unprecedented for him.
"Just what went wrong?"
He murmured, unable to shake the sense that something was amiss.
The next moment...
Hum, hum, hum!
A strange sensation stirred within him.
It felt as though something were rippling through his body.
His glazed sword heart nearly shattered.
He let out a muffled groan, his face flushing.
His skin trembled faintly.
Immediately afterward, he sensed an image appear in his mind, as though it had been carved directly into his brain.
It was so clear that he could not ignore it even if he wanted to.
The scene was dim.
But it was easy to tell that this was a woman's bedchamber. A clothes rail stood inside, hung with numerous pieces of women's intimate apparel.
The designs were novel and daring!
They were startling to behold, but the most striking thing was their size.
They were far larger than those he usually saw-astonishingly so.
Even he could not help feeling a little surprised.
The room was clean and cleverly arranged.
Wind chimes at the window, orchids in the corner.
And...
His master, his black robes billowing, holding a woman in his arms!
Wait!
Master?!
Ye Qinghong's eyes snapped open, a trace of shock appearing on his cool, aloof face.
There was no mistake. The man in that scene was his master!
That tall figure, that icy killing intent.
And that faint, elusive smile on his face.
Every detail was etched into his bones and heart.
He would probably never forget them for the rest of his life.
But why was he seeing his master in his mind-that ruthless fiend who stopped at no evil?
What on earth was happening?
Was it an illusion? Or a Heart Demon?
If it was an illusion, why was it so clear?
But if it was a Heart Demon...
Why... would it take this form?
After all, he had been born with a glazed sword heart.
There was not a speck of dust deep within his heart, nor could the mortal world's bustle disturb him.
All his life, he had been devoted to the sword, enthralled by the sword.
If she truly had a Heart Demon, it ought to concern the Sword Dao. No matter what, it should never have been lust.
And most importantly,
Although the fiend had a reputation for ferocious lust in the outside world, very few knew that his master was impotent for psychological reasons.
Otherwise, the five fellow disciples would probably have fallen victim to him long ago.
Her Heart Demon...
Why would it show his impotent master embracing a woman?
Moreover, she knew this woman. They had met once before. She was Han Lingxuan, first on the Han Kingdom's Rouge Ranking and the Princess Consort of the Southern Pacifying King's Residence.
She had been living in the Demon Cult's rear courtyard for the past three years!
After capturing her, the fiend had not forcibly killed her as he had done before.
Instead, for some reason unknown to Ye Qinghong, he had kept her alive.
What was going on?
Why would she have a Heart Demon like this? A nightmare like this?
People said Heart Demons were the heart's deepest obsessions.
Why was this his obsession?
Or... was there some deeper meaning?
Ye Qinghong's brows drew tightly together.
Faint ripples stirred in his cool eyes.
He stared fixedly at the scene in his mind, his expression as cold and still as a frigid pool.
Neither elated by external things nor saddened by his own lot, he simply watched in silence.
He wanted to see exactly what was going on.
Would this Heart Demon develop any further?
Then he saw the fiend and the Princess Consort of the Southern Pacifying King embracing, seemingly chatting and laughing, their manner intimate.
They drew closer and closer.
They seemed to be making some strange movements.
Then the lamplight went out.
The two silhouettes merged into one.
Ye Qinghong silently watched this absurd scene, his glazed sword heart circulating automatically.
He was a swordsman!
A born swordsman!
If something like this disturbed his heart, would he not become the greatest laughingstock under heaven?
And so, a short while later...
The Azure Shadow Sword, which had been humming constantly on his back, dimmed.
This meant he had left the glazed sword heart state-and had been forced out of it, at that.
"An accident. It's normal for the glazed sword heart to fail occasionally."
Ye Qinghong murmured.
He pointed a finger.
The Azure Shadow Sword began to tremble.
But before long,
The Azure Shadow Sword dimmed again.
"It's fine. I'm not in good form. Once, twice, but never a third time. This time, there will absolutely be no mistake."
This time, his glazed sword heart lasted only two or three breaths before the state collapsed outright.
"..."
Ye Qinghong said nothing, biting his lip.
Before you continue