Heart Devil

Watching Luo Sheng and his companion leave, Shen Ge stood there for a long time before patting his Storage Bag and remarking, "Not bad."

No one knows what he was actually lamenting.

Back in his courtyard, Shen Ge didn't find Zhang Lingyu, so he must have already gone back.

But this is good too; it's rare to have some peace and quiet.

After lying in the courtyard for half a month, Shen Ge took out a thousand-year-old peach tree and began to carve it.

He carved intermittently, taking more than half a month to complete the sculpture.

A sculpture of Mu Wan, pointing forward with her right hand and holding a sword in her left hand in a running pose, appeared in Shen Ge's hand.

Although the expression in the eyes wasn't very vivid, it did convey a hint of anger.

Shen Ge stroked the carving, a slow smile spreading across his lips, "Mu Wan, Mu Wan, do you remember that time you chased after me with a sword and got scolded by your grandfather? Thinking about it now makes me want to laugh a little. Who told you to be so unreliable?"

But as he laughed, Shen Ge fell silent. He gently stroked the carving, a tear sliding down his cheek.

After a long silence, he sighed sadly, "I really miss your punches. It's a pity you can't hit me anymore."

After carefully putting away the carving, Shen Ge began carving the next one.

One, two, three...

Happiness, sadness, joy, delight, confusion, foolishness...

Various kinds, in all shapes and sizes.

Over two years, Shen Ge carved a total of 1,300 wooden sculptures, each one so lifelike, each one a memory of his.

At this moment, Shen Ge stared at the wood in his hands with bloodshot eyes, but he just couldn't bring himself to carve any further!

Because he realized he couldn't think of anything else to carve; his memories with Mu Wan had come to an end, were over!

"No! No! There must be more, think of something!" Shen Ge pounded her head with both hands, as if trying to remember something.

But it was no use, no matter how hard he hit it, no matter how hard he shook his head.

His recollections have come to an end!

A day later, a disheveled Shen Ge got up from the ground. He gently stroked the sculpture that Mu Wan had last laid in his arms. He didn't say a word, only his eyes were bloodshot, and a faint black aura swirled around him.

At this moment, the scene of Mu Wan shattering into light and dissipating under Zhang Sheng's attack kept flashing through Shen Ge's mind, again and again.

No! Don't!

"Mu Wan, no!"

"Mu Wan..."

Intense resentment, overwhelming killing intent, and a sorrow powerful enough to drown someone erupted from Shen Ge at this moment, mixing together to form a dark red pillar of light that rose from the sky!

"Look, that dark red beam of light!"

"What is that? Why does it give me such an evil aura?"

People around the courtyard all looked at the pillar of light. Some looked puzzled, some looked terrified, while others remained unchanged.

Even some cultivators who were in seclusion were awakened by this aura.

"Oh no! Those are symptoms of Qi Deviation! Golden Core expert has Qi Deviation! Run!"

As soon as this exclamation rang out, all the cultivators around ran away, each one faster than the last.

Soon, the enforcement team of the Yaoguang Immortal Sect arrived. They all looked solemnly at the pillar of light that shot straight into the sky and dyed a small part of the sky red.

"What should we do? Should we try to resolve this?" asked a member of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

"Are you fucking stupid? We're just an enforcement team, not a suicide squad!" A man who looked like the captain and was at the Foundation Establishment Peak slapped the man who asked the question on the back of the head, causing him to stumble.

Just then, a sigh suddenly came from the sky, "Alas, Brother Shen, why did you do this?"

Then, a soothing melody slowly rose, as if it could smooth away all pain.

In the air, Miaoyin gently played the zither, and standing beside her was Gu Ye.

Gu Ye looked down, his gaze piercing through the distance to land on Shen Ge, and on each and every carving.

He remained silent for a long time, finally letting out only a sigh, "Ah~"

"The path to immortality is fraught with sorrow; beauty fades and there's no turning back."

At this moment, the space beside the dark red pillar of light rippled, and Venerable Yaoguang appeared there. He looked at the pillar of light, and then looked down at Shen Ge at the source of the pillar of light.

He then shook his head and said, "Heart Devil Tribulation, Fellow Daoist Shen is truly gifted. To be able to trigger Heart Devil Tribulation at the Golden Core Stage."

He then waved his hand, sealing off the entire space. "Fellow Daoist Shen, what happens next is up to you. If you survive this tribulation, you will surely Nascent Soul within a hundred years. If you fail, then don't blame me."

"Kill him, kill him, kill him..."

One frenzied rambling after another echoed in Shen Ge's mind, bewitching and seducing him time and time again.

"But I've already killed him, I've already killed him, Mu Wan, I've already killed him."

"That's not enough. You have to kill him. He orchestrated all of this. You have to kill him!"

At this moment, Xuanguang's figure appeared in Shen Ge's mind, and Shen Ge's killing intent surged even more.

"Xuanguang!"

I want you dead!

Below, Shen Ge suddenly slashed his sword upwards, unleashing an incredibly terrifying Sword Qi that hurtled towards Miaoyin in the air.

Gu Ye's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly stepped forward to try and block the sword light.

Although he knew he might not be able to stop them, he still stepped forward without the slightest hesitation.

With Venerable Yaoguang dissipated the sword light. He then calmly said, "Keep playing, don't stop."

Miaoyin nodded, and the music immediately became even more soothing.

"You piece of trash, you can't kill him, you can't kill him..."

"Nonsense, I can kill him, I definitely can kill him, he will definitely die by my hand."

"I don't think Mu Wan is important to you at all. You even said you had to take revenge yourself. Ha! Revenge is revenge. What's the point of talking about taking revenge yourself?"

"Back then, if you had just used that Life and Death Art to get those Nascent Soul cultivators to help, you wouldn't have had any trouble killing him! Ah, I ask you, why did you hesitate back then? Why didn't you do that? Ah!"

"Look, you're trying to use your master, senior sister, and fellow disciples as excuses again. You're worried about them, but what about Mu Wan? She was beaten to ashes! Can you bear to do that?! Ah, I'm asking you a question! Answer me!"

"That's not it, that's bullshit! That's not what I thought!"

Shen Ge roared, unleashing sword strike after sword strike, the boundless Sword Qi filling the entire space.

However, with Venerable Yaoguang protecting Miaoyin and Gu Ye, Shen Ge's Sword Qi couldn't harm them at all.

Gu Ye, inside the protective shield, looked rather grim. He hadn't expected the gap between himself and Shen Ge to be so vast; he felt that each of these attacks was enough to kill him.

"Continue, your music is useful," Venerable Yaoguang said calmly.