Chapter 887 - 882: The Big Fish Has Taken the Bait!
South, Zenith Cliff.
As far as the eye could see, a boundless Cloud Sea surrounded the cliff’s peak. It blended the light of the sun and the moon, harboring a dense Spiritual Aura that enveloped a young man with red lips and white teeth, resting his hands on the Magical Sword across his knees.
However, the young man’s expression was unsightly. His brows were tightly knitted as if he were trapped in a nightmare. It wasn’t until a long while later that he abruptly opened his eyes, subconsciously executing a Slash with his sword. In an instant, the Cloud Sea was severed, the Spiritual Aura was split in two, and a clear sword mark was carved into the sky.
"PHEW..."
True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde exhaled a deep breath of Muddy Qi, a dark haze surfacing in his eyes. "This result again... Tingyou, just how much longer do you plan to torture me?"
At this thought, he looked up at the sky again. The current Immortal Pivot was different from the past. Although it was broad daylight, apart from the morning sun, there was surprisingly another star shining brightly.
That was the Profound Spirit Realm.
"Immortal Monarch of Tribulation..." True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde silently chanted this Honorary Title in his heart, gnashing his teeth. "If it weren’t for him causing the Heart Demon to materialize, how could I have fallen to such a state?"
It had been several years! No matter what he did, as long as he entered Meditation, the Heart Demon would immediately exploit his vulnerability and drag him into a scene he never wanted to recall.
It was a Combat. At that time, he was arrogant and proud, considering himself the destined true master of the Fruit of Wall-Surface Earth. Thus, he secretly concealed his identity and took the initiative to challenge Progenitor Tingyou at the Wu Ghost Sect.
The result was a miserable defeat. Progenitor Tingyou had very enthusiastically guided him, allowing him to use all his methods and calmly receiving them all. Then, right before his eyes, Tingyou replicated all of his techniques, even optimizing them so their effects were far better than his own!
Look at this—was this even human? The Magic, Sword Techniques, and even Abilities that took him hundreds of years to master were surpassed by Progenitor Tingyou in less than a day.
He even said that one should smile while cultivating. Cultivate my ass!
Therefore, this scene became the deepest nightmare in his heart, impossible to forget for a long time, to the point that it eventually became a barrier in his mind.
However, if it were only this, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Yet ever since the Heart Demon came into the world, this mental barrier—which used to only cause him slight discomfort—suddenly came alive. Almost every day, it tried to swallow his Soul. If not for the protection of his Gold Attribute, his Spiritual Space would probably have already fallen.
This was getting too much to handle. Every time he encountered the Heart Demon’s invasion, he had to exhaust his Heart Spirit to Slash it dead using his Gold Attribute, which would buy him two to three days of breathing room.
"The main issue is that the knot in my heart remains untied. If it isn’t untied, the Heart Demon will always have soil to breed in," True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde sighed. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know where the crux of his problem lay.
The question was how to resolve it.
With this in mind, his Spiritual Mechanism suddenly Moved, and a thought inexplicably surfaced in his head: "Why don’t I go bully some Lower Cultivators? I can use that to rebuild my Dao Heart!"
This thought came very abruptly. However, after pondering it carefully for a while, True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde felt it was a pretty good idea. After all, bullying Lower Cultivators was practically a tradition in the Immortal Pivot.
Just then, a streak of Spirit Light tore through the air in the Cloud Sea and landed directly in front of True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde. It suddenly split open, revealing itself to be a Fei Xin requesting reinforcements from Demon Subduing Zhenren.
"Great Undertaking?" True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde looked at the Fei Xin, a thoughtful look appearing on his face. "I remember now. Isn’t this the Guardian that the unlucky ghost, Fortune, gave Enlightenment to?"
If there was any Perfected Lord that even he could despise, Fortune would definitely rank first. After all, he was a weirdo who hadn’t managed to ascend to his throne for five thousand years, a unique case even among Reincarnated True Monarchs. The Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivator that he had given Enlightenment to was probably just mediocre—a perfect whetstone!
"Perfect, I’ll start with you!" True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde bared his teeth in a smile, his originally hesitant mood instantly firming up. He would also send an Enlightened Body to join the battlefield!
After all, if Fortune could send one, why couldn’t he? Moreover, he just so happened to have such an Enlightened Body on hand. It was originally something he kept in reserve, planning to use it to protect himself after his lifespan ended and he reincarnated in the future. Bringing it out now could also conveniently test the waters.
With this, his Heart Thought Moved.
A second later, a young man who looked almost identical to him appeared out of thin air beside him. It was the Zhengde clone that had once fought with Lü Yang.
Seeing this, True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde didn’t dawdle. He directly bestowed the Magical Sword in his hand to the clone. Then, he took out various Spiritual Treasures from his Storage Bag—from robes and a Daoist Crown to boots, Jade Pendants, and other items. It was comprehensive, practically arming the clone to the teeth.
After finishing all this, he nodded slightly.
"With this setup, it should be impossible for anything to go wrong. Once this clone sweeps through the Demon Sect and slightly unties the knot in my heart, it’ll also be able to somewhat alleviate the pain of this Heart Demon."
......
The Sea of Suffering.
Above the surging undercurrents, Lü Yang—who had been patiently waiting, using the Fruit of Divine-Empyrean Thunder as a fishing rod and Cataclysm Launcher as bait—suddenly revealed a look of joy.
"The big fish has finally taken the bait!"
It had started as a trivial matter, but like falling dominoes, the accumulation of trivial matters eventually became the straw that broke the camel’s back. The result was that True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde—who normally would absolutely never bully Lower Cultivators out of boredom—suddenly formed the thought and decided to send a clone for a trip. This was a classic case of entering a Tribulation. If he had ignored everything and quietly recited a few volumes of scriptures on Zenith Cliff, there would be nothing Lü Yang could do about him.
"Too bad. Who told you to have a Heart Demon?"
He already had the flaw of a Heart Demon, and someone was secretly guiding the Tribulation. Truly, even an Immortal would find it hard to guard against. The Great Net of Karma Links hadn’t even shown any reaction to this day!
"This can be considered the Perfected Lords’ path dependency. In the past, they could see everything clearly just by calculating the karmic links. But now that the Great Net of Karma Links isn’t working, these Perfected Lords, who usually see things with absolute clarity, are suddenly blind."
With this thought, Lü Yang lowered his gaze to the Current World.
Meanwhile, True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde’s clone had already left the Sword Pavilion and traveled all the way to a thousand miles outside Gantang Dao. However, Great Undertaking had already succeeded and left.
Minor Metal had no intention of stopping him. After all, he had previously accidentally Swallowed Dragon Map, and his Heart Demon had reached Major Mastery a step early. Naturally, Great Undertaking, whom he had originally treated as a target, was no longer important.
Therefore, he didn’t block Great Undertaking but instead poured all his energy into the setup at Gantang Dao. The moment the Zhengde clone arrived, a pillar of purplish-black smoke rose from the ground, connecting to the heavens and blotting out the sun. Like a bloody maw, it Swallowed him in an instant.
In a split second, reactions came from all sides.
"Hm? Who is it?"
The first to react was True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde himself, because just a moment ago when he observed Gantang Dao, he hadn’t noticed such a thing. Where did this pop out from?
The second gaze to fall over naturally belonged to World Purger Fei Xue, though his gaze carried a hint of schadenfreude and curiosity. "Who is it? Did someone finally lose their patience?"
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. However, for the Heart Demon, the blink of an eye was enough.
Beneath the purplish-black smoke screen, True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde’s clone directly affected his main body. He only felt his limbs grow heavy as a wave of drowsiness abruptly surged into his mind.
The next second, he saw a silhouette of light stepping out in front of him. The figure’s appearance shifted. A moment later, the light faded, revealing a white robe and a pair of eyes that seemed to flicker with endless Wisdom Light.
Instantly, True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde’s pupils violently shrank.
"Tingyou? You’re not dead!?"
The following second, whether it was True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde’s clone or his main body situated on Zenith Cliff, both fell into a daze and collapsed to the ground.