Chapter 54: Heart Demon (Part 2)
“Heart Demon.” Song Yan’s brow arched.
What an evil name.
Recalling carefully, during the great battle that day, when Senior Sister Qin Ying fought against that demonic cultivator, this flying sword indeed displayed power far beyond that of a mid-grade magical artifact.
Now that the towering menace had largely dissipated, the flying sword’s spiritual aura had fallen back to the level of an ordinary mid-grade magical artifact.
Magical artifacts and treasures in the cultivation world also had distinctions of grade. Different tiers of artifacts represented a refiner’s understanding and skill in artifact crafting.
Typically, for a Qi Refining Stage cultivator like Song Yan, having a set of defensive, offensive, and auxiliary low-grade magical artifacts would be considered quite wealthy.
Mid-grade magical artifacts were generally obtained by chance by inner disciples who had advanced to late-stage Qi Refining, and only when luck was on their side.
After all, this was a small place.
Song Yan had heard that in Chu Kingdom, many Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators who were doing relatively poorly in the cultivation world also used ordinary mid-grade magical artifacts.
Song Yan circulated the spiritual energy within his body, preparing to begin the refinement process, but the spiritual energy suddenly surged toward the Twin Jade Pearl.
“Hmm?”
The Twin Jade Pearl, just like during the great battle that day, began to slowly emanate mysterious fluctuations.
Song Yan didn’t know what was happening, but the Twin Jade Pearl had already given him great assistance. He simply gripped spirit stones and poured all his spiritual energy into it.
The surrounding fluctuations and suction grew stronger. Strangely, these fluctuations seemed to affect only that dark flying sword.
“Hummm—”
Finally, in a single instant, the flying sword “Heart Demon” suddenly levitated into the air.
With a flash of light, it actually vanished…
“?”
Song Yan furrowed his brows, his face full of confusion.
He sank his divine sense into the Twin Jade Pearl.
“Hmm…?”
Compared to the last time he entered the Twin Jade Realm, the scene within had changed considerably once again.
At some unknown point, an ink-black celestial waterfall had appeared near the phantom of the Dao Seed.
The ink pool below the waterfall extended to a point not far from the Dao Seed phantom.
“This is…”
He manipulated his consciousness, wanting to reach out and touch this surging ink-black mass.
But before he could approach the celestial waterfall, merely hovering above the ink pool, he felt his mind destabilize and his head split with pain!
Hiss…
Creak…
Waves of malicious whispers, mournful wailing, and anguished screams seemed to reverberate throughout the entire Twin Jade Realm.
“What?!”
He quickly retreated and flew back to the bank of the ink pool.
Song Yan’s heart still raced with lingering fear as he stared blankly at the cascading ink-black waterfall.
“What a dense malicious intent…”
What were these things, and where did they come from?
He looked toward the Dao Seed phantom, above which hung the “Heart Demon” that had vanished from the outside world.
Unlike the calm in the outside world, within the Twin Jade Realm, the dark sword body now hovering above the Dao Seed was once again wreathed in surging demonic flames, just as it had been at Taohua Wharf that day.
However, the small sword formed from the nascent Dao Heart was actually slowly floating around it.
It seemed to be gradually dispersing and stripping away the pitch-black demonic flames from the sword’s body!
However, perhaps because the Dao Heart was not yet complete, this process was extremely slow.
Everything before him was something he had never seen before…
It didn’t matter. In the cultivation world, there were countless things Song Yan didn’t know and hadn’t seen.
But one thing that truly baffled him was…
Why…
Had that Taowei demonic flute also appeared within the Twin Jade Pearl?!
Song Yan gazed at the Taowei flute hovering at the edge of the ink pool. It was truly absurd.
“The Twin Jade Pearl… isn’t it supposed to be related only to the Sword Dao?”
In his original understanding, this Twin Jade Pearl should have been a small inheritance created by an ancient sword sect to ensure successors, containing certain texts and hidden treasures.
Having some special functions related to sword cultivators was understandable.
For example, after refinement, it could project the phantom of the Dao Seed within one’s sword manor. Though it seemed useless for now, this was related and made sense.
Similarly, like with the current evil sword “Heart Demon,” being able to store certain flying swords within the Twin Jade Pearl was also a function related to the Sword Dao.
But this Taowei flute…
What was going on?
Could it be that the bead had detected demonic cultivator energy and brought it in along with the flying sword?
Song Yan had to begin re-examining this two-colored treasure bead.
Perhaps it wasn’t as simple as he had imagined.
He began to recall in detail.
“The first time the Twin Jade Realm changed was when I cultivated the unnamed incantation to a certain level…”
“It seems that was like passing the most basic test.”
“The second change was…”
“After returning from Silent Valley, severing my spiritual root, condensing the sword seed, and later comprehending the nascent Dao Heart…”
“This time…”
“Obtaining a flying sword?”
Song Yan felt this conjecture was somewhat hasty…
“No, no…”
“Previously in the Silent Valley battle, my flying sword shattered. Later, I spent some contribution points at the sect to get a new flying sword. Complete refinement of it didn’t produce any anomalies…”
Song Yan murmured to himself.
“Is it because this flying sword has a higher grade, being a mid-grade magical artifact…”
“Or is it…”
Looking at the small sword slowly floating and purging the demonic flames, he couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.
“Or does this ‘Heart Demon’ have something special about it?”
…
Chu Kingdom, Sun-Shooting Sect.
The Sun-Shooting Sect was located at the border of Xin’an Prefecture and Guangling Prefecture.
Today was the Sun-Shooting Sect’s entrance examination for a new batch of disciples, and it had just concluded.
The young boys and girls brought by various patrons and a pair of siblings who had come on their own—thirteen people in total—only three possessed spiritual roots, one of whom had all five-element spiritual roots and was hopeless for cultivation.
Thus, only two could be accepted into the sect.
The siblings Sheng Nian and Sheng Yun stood at the sect entrance.
Sheng Yun’s face was covered with pleading tears. “Brother, can I not stay here?”
“Anyway, I have three spiritual roots. I can go to Eastern Abyss Sect. Let’s go find Brother Yesheng…”
“No…”
Sheng Nian shook his head, his gaze resolute.
“When Ah Yan returned home before, he said the six great sects of Chu Kingdom are all the same. The inner sect and outer sect are worlds apart.”
“That immortal said with this Sun-Shooting Sect disciple token, given your talent of three spiritual roots, you can be exceptionally admitted to the inner sect.”
When it came to important matters, Sheng Nian was not an indecisive person.
Ever since he and Song Yan had killed Tong Chuping together, those strange martial artists coming to Shiliang Town had only increased, and cultivators had even appeared!
If Song Yan hadn’t arrived in time, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
Though he didn’t understand the situation in the cultivation world, and didn’t know why that “Xinshan Hermit” was trying so hard to find him.
But he knew one thing: if he didn’t leave Shiliang, then the town’s people would only draw closer and closer to the conflicts of the martial world and even the cultivation world.
And so he took the Sun-Shooting Sect disciple token and brought Sheng Yun along, traveling all the way to the Sun-Shooting Sect.
In the entrance examination just now, Sheng Yun was found to have three spiritual roots, while he himself had no spiritual roots.
Without hope of the immortal path, he was naturally disappointed.
But if he could use this opportunity to send his own sister far away from himself, with a sect to protect her, he couldn’t help but feel it was a good thing.
“Ah Yun, listen to me…”
Sheng Nian looked earnestly into the girl’s eyes.
“Brother has no hope of cultivation in this life, but Ah Yan once said…”
“In the cultivation world, there are some reclusive experts or ancient inheritances that have methods to allow mortals without spiritual roots to step onto the immortal path.”
“If you cultivate diligently and find an opportunity in the future, perhaps you could help me step onto the immortal path. Right?”
Not far away, an inner disciple was waiting to receive Sheng Yun.
Hearing their words, she sighed silently in her heart.
Hidden experts among the clouds, profound Dao masters, ancient relics, and unorthodox inheritances.
Which of these was easy to obtain, and which hadn’t been born from the bloody storms of the cultivator world?
Even if this little girl possessed unparalleled talent and extraordinary fortune, and truly one day found traces of immortality and had the strength and qualification to seize immortal destiny in her hands…
By then, her brother would likely have long since grown old, his path of immortality severed.
The great Dao was lonely. The so-called friends and family of the mortal world were like flowers in a mirror and the moon’s reflection. Perhaps after emerging from cultivation in the future, a hundred years would have passed in the mortal world, leaving only a handful of earth to hold one’s longing.
She would come to understand this in time…
Watching Sheng Nian’s departing figure on the mountain boardwalk, tears streamed down Sheng Yun’s face like rain.
…
“Well?”
…
“Now that your path of immortality is severed…”
A gentle breeze blew along the mountain path, and a faint voice echoed in the youth’s heart.
“You should give up by now and take me as your master…”
…
“So what if you have no spiritual roots?”
“In demonic cultivation, everything on the path to immortality can simply be taken from others…”
“Why bother looking to others for approval?”
…
“Cultivating immortality is inherently defying the heavens… cultivating demonic arts, seizing spiritual fortune, and slaying all those in the world who deserve killing!”
“Everything is for the sake of achieving immortality! This…”
“This is what truly deserves to be called defying fate and changing destiny!”
…
…