Chapter 872 - 867: He-Transformed Heart Demon Scripture
Chong Guang took a deep breath and looked around. What met his eyes were flying eaves slicing through the air like swords and halberds, and painted pillars resembling a cascading galaxy. The glazed tiles on the palace roof radiated a cold gleam day and night, while the mist-patterned Profound Tier stairs surged with lingering fog from dawn to dusk.
"It’s so quiet. There’s no one here at all," he thought.
Approaching the center of the main hall with caution, Chong Guang looked up to see an Eight-Sided Mirror hanging high above. Its light illuminated all directions, leaving no place to hide. Beneath the mirror, seven Three-legged Round Tripods were lined up, wafting ethereal green smoke. The scent of Sandalwood Incense permeated the air. The smoke coiled like dragons hovering within the hall, wrapping around the jade pillars and harboring the hidden rumbling of wind and thunder that sounded like dragon roars. This Immortal Family spectacle made Chong Guang even more cautious, rooting him to the spot, afraid to take another step forward.
He then looked toward the sides of the hall. On two jade pillars carved with dragons, a couplet written in sweeping Dragon and Snake calligraphy stood out boldly. It carried such an intense aura of the Dao that it immediately struck Chong Guang’s Spiritual Space like a heavy blow.
The left pillar read: "The pivot that anchors the righteous energy of heaven and earth."
The right pillar read: "The sanctuary that protects the well-being of all living things."
The horizontal scroll read: "Righteous and Bright!"
It took a long time for Chong Guang to finally snap out of it. His expression was peculiar as he mused, "Are there really so-called Righteous Cultivators Beyond the Heavens? It must be fake. Anyone who can write such verses is either truly devoted to the Righteous Dao and thus easily manipulated by their own principles, or a complete hypocrite with deep Karma tied to the Sword Pavilion..."
At this thought, Chong Guang took a deep breath. Giving up on further exploration, he simply stood his ground, bowed, and declared loudly, "Lower Cultivator Chong Guang seeks an audience with the Immortal Monarch of Tribulation. From this day forth, I am willing to serve under the Immortal Monarch’s command and follow your orders, seeking only a path of ascension in the Dao."
His voice echoed in the grand hall. However, nothing happened, and the empty hall remained perfectly silent. Chong Guang’s heart sank slightly. After pondering for a moment, he tentatively changed his approach. "This Lower Cultivator has brought a heavy gift to offer."
Before his words even faded, Chong Guang’s vision blurred. In the seat of honor of the previously empty hall, a young man in a Profound Robe suddenly appeared, resting with his eyes closed.
"When did he get there?!" Chong Guang’s pupils constricted as he stared at the young man. He sat there quietly, as if he had never left, lacking both earth-shattering momentum and the unique Position suppression of a Perfected Lord. He was so Ordinary it was terrifying.
"Lower Cultivator greets the Immortal Monarch," Chong Guang bowed again.
However, the young man in the Profound Robe acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing. He remained in Meditation, completely ignoring him.
"He won’t act until he sees the bait. Will he really ignore me if I don’t offer any benefits? This personality doesn’t seem like a Righteous Cultivator who can be manipulated by his own morals," Chong Guang smiled bitterly in his heart. Helplessly, he said, "The Immortal Monarch has exposed Ang Xiao’s secrets and already made an enemy of him. This person is already at the Late Stage of Golden Core and is on the verge of breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm, posing a great threat to the Immortal Monarch... This Lower Cultivator has a method that might help the Immortal Monarch knock down his Realm, removing him as a threat once and for all."
As soon as he said this, the young man in the Profound Robe opened his eyes.
In an instant, Chong Guang felt his Heart Spirit shudder violently. It was as if his Spiritual Space had been struck by a massive hammer. He stumbled and nearly collapsed to the ground on the spot, though he managed to hold on in the end, refusing to kneel.
Witnessing this, even though he had anticipated it, Lü Yang couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. "As expected... Master Chong Guang has faintly touched upon the threshold of the Dao Heart."
Of course, he was still a long way from Dao Heart Perfection. However, for a Perfected Person at Foundation Establishment Perfection, even touching upon the Dao Heart was incredibly astonishing. When Lü Yang himself was at Foundation Establishment, he didn’t even know what that was.
Then again, Lü Yang mused, "In Master Chong Guang’s eyes, Ang Xiao and I should be as incompatible as fire and water right now. In reality, there’s plenty of room for cooperation between us. I don’t care at all about his so-called method to deal with Ang Xiao. I can even guess what it is—it’s nothing more than Fortune. He probably just wants to tell me the news that World Purger Fei Xue has decided to support Hongyun’s Gold Quest, and that Ang Xiao will inevitably step in to stop it, meaning a great battle between the two sides is imminent.
"This is the perspective of a Lower Cultivator. Master Chong Guang is gambling his life, bringing chips to beg for a sliver of survival. But in truth? I don’t care about his chips at all, nor do I need to pay them any mind.
"Meaningless. That’s right, all the methods of a Foundation Establishment cultivator are completely meaningless to a Perfected Lord. Whether I lift him up or tear him down, it merely takes a single thought."
This was the first time Lü Yang had evaluated a so-called Lower Cultivator from the perspective of an Upper Cultivator. The disparity in their Realms meant their horizons were on completely different levels. This was what Chong Guang was to him. So what was he to the Master of Dao?
Lü Yang’s mood grew increasingly heavy. The slight smugness he had initially felt about swapping roles with his martial uncle vanished into thin air, leaving behind only a sense of melancholy. He decided to stop keeping him in suspense. "Very well. I will help you."
Meanwhile, Chong Guang was still racking his brains for ways to persuade the Immortal Monarch before him. The sudden response caught him off guard, and surprise flashed in his eyes. "Does the Immortal Monarch mean..."
"I will help you," Lü Yang repeated. He smiled and added, "You seek a path of the Dao, and I happen to have one I can give you. If you succeed, your Position will not be low.
"If you have the perseverance and the Talent Skill, your final achievements will be no worse than any Orthodox True Monarch, perhaps even superior... However, if you fail, your soul will scatter, leaving you no chance for reincarnation. I won’t hide it from you: if you walk this path, it will benefit me greatly, but the road is fraught with difficulties and dangers..."
"This Lower Cultivator is willing to walk it!" Without a shred of hesitation, Chong Guang cupped his hands in a salute. "I beg the Immortal Monarch for guidance. I am willing to walk this path and risk my life for the Dao. Regardless of success or failure, I will have absolutely no regrets."
"...Good."
Lü Yang wasn’t surprised. After all, if he hadn’t made this choice, he wouldn’t be Master Chong Guang. Reaching into his sleeve, he took out a scripture and handed it over.
Chong Guang focused his gaze on it. The scripture was entirely profound black, wreathed in purple energy, with seven flamboyant Script characters written across it: "He-Transformed Heart Demon Scripture"!
"This is..." Stunned, Chong Guang immediately took the scripture and began to study it intently.
On the other side, Lü Yang maintained a neutral expression, but he was actually watching him with considerable nervousness, as this was the first Cultivation Technique he had written with his own hands.
Although he lacked Enlightenment, his stores of knowledge were vast, and he knew how to apply them. Therefore, while absorbing new knowledge might still be slightly difficult for him, his methods of utilizing the knowledge he had already mastered were actually quite brilliant.
"Heart Demons are born because of me," Lü Yang thought. "The ’He-Transformed Heart Demon Scripture’, as the name suggests, is a Dharma Gate to nurture a Heart Demon, and then use a living human body to seize the Heart Demon, transforming into a Heart Demon oneself.
"According to my deductions, the firmer a person’s Dao Heart is, the more likely they are to succeed in executing this Dharma Gate. As long as someone can successfully cultivate this technique and transform into a Heart Demon, they can tether themselves beneath my Cataclysm Launcher. This is equivalent to a Perfected Lord anchoring themselves to a Grotto Heaven, allowing them to obtain a True Monarch Level Position!
"And once they have a True Monarch Position, their very existence can serve as the foundational anchor for the Heart Demon in this world. This, in turn, will strengthen my Ascension Ceremony, allowing me to take another step forward!"
This was the path Lü Yang had prepared for Chong Guang.
Right at this moment, his heart suddenly stirred. Sensing something vague and profound, he looked up at the sky and discovered that some sort of karmic links seemed to have connected with him.
It was an intent of sheer resentment. The weight of the accumulated grievance and the intensity of the hatred were so strong that even he was startled by it. It was as if it had been built up over countless years, only finding a target to vent upon today.
In the next second, a thought suddenly and inexplicably surfaced in Lü Yang’s mind. "Void Sea of Light, the Ascetics have endured for too long..."